Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Trump's energy policies start to impact Western economies
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Thursday, August 7, 2025
Solar energy development in Nevada, BLM Nevada ([link removed])

The Trump administration has issued a number of executive and secretarial orders aimed at making renewable energy development more difficult on both public ([link removed]) and private ([link removed]) lands. At the same time, the administration and Congress have also advanced policies ([link removed]) that subsidize fossil fuel development in the form of reduced royalty rates and other fees. Those efforts are beginning to impact the economies of Western states that rely on energy production, both renewable and fossil.

In Wyoming, a major coal-producing state, a report ([link removed]) by state financial forecasters predicts that thanks to the budget bill pushed by the Trump administration and passed in July, which reduced the coal royalty rate from 12.5 percent to 7 percent, Wyoming will lose as much as $50 million in annual revenue that would have come from the state's share of those royalties. "It's going to be left up to the state of Wyoming to fill in the gaps, and that's something they don't talk about," said ([link removed]) state senator Mike Gierau. "We're going to get left holding the bag and the bill."

Meanwhile, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo sent a letter ([link removed]) to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum expressing concerns about the effects the Interior department's policies are having on solar energy development, an important part of the state's economy. "[M]y office is hearing that solar projects deep in the project pipeline have been frozen," Lombardo writes ([link removed]) in the letter, adding, "Solar energy development on federal land fuels Nevada's economy."


** Quick hits
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Burgum announces cancelation of Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho

Idaho Capital Sun ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

Interior fast-tracks Skyline coal mine expansion in Utah

E&E News ([link removed])

Uranium company receives Wyoming’s first fast-tracked mining permits

Inside Climate News ([link removed])

Feds decline to review approval of drilling at planned copper mine

Arizona Republic ([link removed])

Denial of gray wolf protections violated Endangered Species Act, judge rules

Public Domain ([link removed]) | Daily Montanan ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])

Drought blankets most of Intermountain West, and will likely get worse

CPR News ([link removed])

Groundwater is drying out, heating up, and causing sea level rise

Grist ([link removed])

Opinion: We were the country that protected things

More Than Just Parks ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” Across the nuclear supply chain we're seeing permits getting expedited and we're having concerns around safety, environmental quality, and public trust.”

—John Burrows, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Inside Climate News ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
Tucked deep in Nevada’s arid Great Basin, the Pine Forest Range is a hidden gem of alpine lakes, trout-filled streams, and rugged granite outcrops. 🌲🐟

Fed by snowmelt and springs, these clear, cold waters are framed by rare whitebark and limber pines, vibrant quaking aspens, and mountain mahogany.

Please recreate responsibly. Follow Leave No Trace principles to help protect this landscape for generations to come.

Photos by @mypubliclands ([link removed])

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