** Poet, missionary bought nearly half of recent oil and gas leases in the West
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Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Oil and gas development in Utah, Ecoflight ([link removed])
In the Bureau of Land Management's August and September lease sales, a Myanmar-born artist, poet, and missionary ([link removed]) spent over $1 million to buy nearly half of the offered parcels across six Western states. Levi Sap Nei Thang has no history of energy development and is not backed by investors. She now owns 108 federal leases and 124 state leases ([link removed]) , giving her the exclusive development rights for the next ten years.
Thang's buying spree illustrates the broken oil and gas leasing system, as well as the flaws of holding lease sales during a global pandemic that has depressed oil prices. With low demand and prices, Thang bought thousands of acres ([link removed]) of leases, shortchanging taxpayers and locking in energy development on these lands for the next decade. Landon Newell with Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance said, "the [Bureau of Land Management] sold these leases to a single company, with no known oil and gas experience, and generally at rock bottom prices. Even if you accepted the Trump administration’s devotion to fossil fuel development, and ignored its devastating impacts to the planet, these leasing decisions stand out as outlandish."
** Road to 30: National Parks
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Tomorrow, join Senator Tom Udall, National Park Service Chief Climate Scientist Dr. Patrick Gonzalez, National Parks Conservation Association, and the Center for Western Priorities for a virtual discussion of the impacts of climate change in national parks, how parks can serve as conservation hubs to connect larger landscapes, and the bold vision ([link removed]) to protect 30 percent of America’s lands and water by 2030. RSVP here ([link removed]) , and learn more information at Roadto30.org ([link removed]) .
Quick hits
** Environmentalists and dam operators, at war for years, start making peace
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New York Times ([link removed])
** Coal plants are closing across the West, but here are the companies sticking with coal
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
** William Perry Pendley refuses to leave his post at helm of BLM despite judge's order
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The Guardian ([link removed])
** Amid a pandemic economy and record wildfires, is it time for a 21st-century Civilian Conservation Corps?
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Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])
** Poet, missionary bought over $1 million in oil and gas leases across the West
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) | Reuters ([link removed])
** Judge's ruling ousting public lands chief calls decisions made under his watch into question
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Inside Climate News ([link removed])
** World's third-largest Joshua tree found in proposed national monument in southern Nevada
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Reno Gazette Journal ([link removed])
** Editorial: Pendley has to go
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Bozeman Daily Chronicle ([link removed])
Quote of the day
The court ruling makes it pretty clear that many of the activities Mr. Pendley directed are invalid. Secretary Bernhardt can and should take stock of this situation to address the latest problems caused by Mr. Pendley's invalid decisions or make plans to continue his string of court losses.”
—Nada Culver, National Audubon Society, Inside Climate News ([link removed])
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed])
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Generations of Paiute-Shoshone carved an extensive collection of mysterious petroglyphs on the rocks of the Volcanic Tablelands near Bishop, #California ([link removed]) . Pic by Abhilash Itharaju
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