July, in brief

Key news from July:

• The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act with overwhelming bipartisan support after the vote was delayed by a small number of anti-public lands lawmakers. The historic public lands conservation package fulfills Congress’ 55-year-old promise to the American people to use offshore drilling proceeds to invest in our nation’s public lands, and is the culmination of decades of bipartisan work. The legislation provides permanent funding for the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund and directs billions toward addressing the national parks maintenance backlog.
• President Trump officially nominated anti-public lands extremist William Perry Pendley as Bureau of Land Management Director. Pendley's record includes numerous statements and beliefs that many believe make him unfit to head the BLM, such as the sentiment that the government should sell off public lands. Western Senators are urging the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to hold a hearing as soon as possible.
• President Trump continued his campaign against the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The White House announced that public lands infrastructure projects being fast-tracked as part of its pandemic response will not be made public, and Trump signed sweeping guidance aimed at dramatically weakening the legislation. The directive allows agencies to ignore climate change when approving projects, among other changes to benefit industry. However, a Government Accountability Office report found that the Trump administration is undervaluing the costs of climate change to boost its deregulatory efforts. Indeed, courts continue to halt Trump administration rollbacks on the basis of climate change—this month, a BLM methane waste rule rollback.
• Three major pipeline projects faced setbacks or were defeated this month, reflecting difficult legal headwinds, shifting economies, and growing demands to fight climate change. Two energy companies abandoned their lawsuit-dogged bid to build the controversial 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Supreme Court rejected a request by the Trump administration to allow construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and a federal judge ordered the controversial Dakota Access pipeline shut down after finding insufficient environmental review.
• Oil and gas companies have begun filing for bankruptcy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, after a decade of racking up immense debt. These bankruptcies could leave behind leaking pipes and orphaned wells to be cleaned up at taxpayer expense. Companies have also been receiving taxpayer subsidies in the form of royalty cuts from the Interior Department—a practice that has since been quietly ended. Yet, those same companies are giving executives millions in bonuses just prior to shedding and restructuring debt. The one piece of good news is that new analysis finds cleaning up abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells could generate 120,000 jobs.
• For the Fourth of July, President Trump made a polarizing address from Mount Rushmore. The controversial event occurred despite concerns that the fireworks could ignite wildfires and that the event (which did not require social-distancing or masks) would result in the spread of COVID-19. The event was protested by Native American tribes in the region, and spurred a critical reckoning with racism on public lands.
• A new report found that the economic benefits of protecting 30 percent of the planet outweigh the cost by a ratio of at least 5-to-1. Beyond the economic benefits, achieving the 30x30 goal is even more critical given the findings of another new report: Black, Indigenous, Latino, and other racial minority communities are three times more likely to live in areas without access to nature.
• Outgoing Utah Congressman Rob Bishop introduced an amendment handing the Air Force over half of a Nevada wildlife refuge—without consulting the Nevada delegation or governor. A congressional committee eventually blocked the amendment.
• Local governments in Utah came together to urge the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to stop its proposed oil and gas lease sale of 85,000 acres between Arches and Canyonlands national parks that would undermine the region's outdoor recreation economy.
• Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a landmark case declaring that almost half the land in eastern Oklahoma belongs to five Native American tribes. The ruling has significant implications for oil and gas industry operators.
• In Alaska, the BLM approved the industry-sponsored Ambler Road Project that will route a 211-mile private access road through Alaska's Gates of the Arctic National Preserve, and the Trump administration also concluded that a proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska will not cause environmental harm, reversing an Obama administration decision.
• In coal news, newly released federal data show U.S. coal production hit its lowest level in four decades in 2019. New documents also show that coal mining potential was used as justification to shrink Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 2017.

What to watch for in August:

• Following overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, the Great American Outdoors Act has been sent to President Trump's desk to be signed into law.
• After Trump followed up on his intent to nominate anti-public lands extremist William Perry Pendley as head of the Bureau of Land Management, we now await the confirmation hearing examining Pendley as a candidate for the position.
• The Trump administration's pattern of environmental rollbacks written by extractive industries has continued. Watch for more rollbacks as we move through August.
• The Road to 30 Virtual Tour will be holding its fourth event in Montana. Stay tuned for details!