January, in brief: Welcome to 2021

Key news from January:

• Shortly after being sworn in, President Joe Biden made it clear that addressing the climate and nature crises will be a priority of his administration. Biden announced the United States will reenter the Paris Climate Agreement and that his administration would cancel permits for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Biden also ordered administrative agencies to review, and possibly reverse, damaging Trump administration policies, as well as President Trump's decision to dramatically shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah.
• President Biden signed a sweeping set of executive orders to address the climate crisis head-on. The orders commit America to protecting 30 percent of its land and water by 2030 (the 30x30 goal), create a Civilian Climate Corps, and focus action on low-income communities and communities of color. Earlier this month, a coalition of more than 50 countries across six continents came together and also pledged support for the 30x30 goal. President Biden's orders also temporarily pause oil and gas leasing on national public lands, allowing the administration to evaluate a broken oil and gas leasing system that serves companies while hurting communities and taxpayers. This action will not devastate the oil and gas industry, as the industry has stockpiled millions of extra acres of leases that now sit idle, in addition to years-worth of approved but unused drilling permits.
• The Trump administration used its final month to eviscerate public land protections and environmental regulations. The Interior Department reversed an Obama-era rule to allow oil, gas, and coal companies to skirt royalties owed to taxpayers; opened 9.7 million acres of public lands in Western Alaska to new drilling and mining; and approved a four-lane highway through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, key habitat for the desert tortoise.
• Following efforts to rush through the process to drill the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Trump administration's lease sale was an epic failure. The oil and gas industry largely ignored the long-awaited lease sale, leaving an Alaska state agency as the main bidder. The agency put up all but two of the winning bids, which were made by small oil and gas companies. Only eleven tracts were sold, for a total of $14.4 million in revenue: far less than had originally been estimated.
• Birds had a bad month. On National Bird Day, the Trump administration gutted protections for migratory birds. The final rule weakens enforcement of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) so that companies will not be penalized for accidentally or incidentally harming or killing birds, such as through oil spills, toxic waste, or other environmental hazards. The Trump administration also opened up millions of acres of spotted owl habitat to logging.
• On January 6th, a mob incited by President Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election by taking over the U.S. Capitol. Although many were shocked by the violent insurrectionists, the extremist ideologies and tactics that President Trump has stoked among his supporters are the same ideologies that led to a violent occupation of public lands in Oregon five years ago. Many of the groups that participated in the armed occupation of the Capitol are the same ones that have threatened American public lands for years.
• It came out that last month former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt quietly signed a directive that could dramatically shape the Bureau of Land Management's law enforcement protocols—without notifying BLM state directors. By approving the proposed changes, Bernhardt ignored the recommendations of career Interior Department and BLM officials developed over a two-year process that called for more oversight of law enforcement personnel.
• Newly-released statistics revealed how the Trump administration successfully eliminated the leadership at the Bureau of Land Management. Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s decision to “relocate” jobs to an ostensible new headquarters in Grand Junction, Colorado led to the departure of nearly 90 percent of BLM employees from the DC office.

What to watch for in February:

• Confirmation hearings for key climate and environment positions will continue throughout February. Michael Regan, nominee for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will have his hearing on February 3, and other hearings are waiting to be scheduled, such as for Interior Secretary nominee Deb Haaland.
• The Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee is holding a hearing on February 3 to establish climate baselines, examining global trends and assessing progress towards climate goals.
• Colorado College is expected to release its 11th annual “Conservation in the West” poll, a benchmark of voter attitudes towards public lands across eight Rocky Mountain West states. 
• On day one, President Biden ordered agencies to review over 100 of the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks. In the coming months, we will see the reviews come in and hopefully many of the rollbacks rejected. 
• On February 10, a federal judge will consider whether to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline, following an appellate court’s ruling for a new environmental impact study.

At Interior, we're committed to outlining what it will take to conserve at least 30% of our lands & waters by 2030. Learn more about @POTUS's plan for restoring balance on public lands & investing in a clean energy future: http://ow.ly/JjFs50DkbwY https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EsxissrXUAYFU_l.jpg