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As the government shutdown enters its third week, federal employees who work on fossil fuel and mining permits are still on the job.
The New York Times reports that the Bureau of Land Management approved the expansion of a Utah copper mine last week and prepared to open more than 250,000 acres of land in Wyoming and Nebraska to oil and gas drilling. Environmental Protection Agency employees are reportedly working on a plan to allow coal plants to emit more toxic mercury. But the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has stopped "all renewable energy activities" during the shutdown.
The Center for Western Priorities is monitoring oil and gas drilling permits issued during the shutdown. As of Monday morning, BLM employees had issued more than 300 new oil and gas drilling permits during the government shutdown. Most of the permits are being issued in Wyoming and New Mexico.
Interior confirms "imminent" layoff plans
In a late Friday court filing, the Interior department revealed it planned to "imminently" fire more than 1,500 employees across 68 areas of the agency. Interior's Chief Human Capital Officer, Rachel Borra, declared that the agency has stopped work on firing union employees covered by a temporary restraining order. A judge on Friday expanded the number of employees covered by that restraining order. However, Borra did not reveal how many of the 1,539 employees targeted for elimination are not represented by one of the unions challenging the layoff plans. Borra is new to the top HR job at Interior, having just been appointed on September 29th, two days before the government shutdown began.
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If this is truly about keeping the lights on, then why suppress the cleanest and cheapest energy that’s coming online?”
