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Just over 100 days into Joe Biden's presidency, his administration is moving quickly to fulfill promises on conservation and climate. Outside magazine and the Center for American Progress both took a look at the administration’s record so far and came to the same conclusion: while there is much work remaining, President Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland have taken quick actions to fulfill their conservation goals.
Nat Keohane, a former Obama official who is now at the Environmental Defense Fund, points to Biden's commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2030. “It’s a big deal. It puts us in the top tier of ambition globally, well on target to meet net zero by 2050, which science demands,” Keohane said, looking at funding proposals for electric vehicles, climate research and an upgraded power grid that are part of the president's infrastructure plan, which is supported by a majority of Americans. “This is about all the ways that investing in climate means better jobs, healthier communities, and more equity.”
Aaron Weiss, deputy director at the Center for Western Priorities, credited Haaland for signing a pair of executive orders that create a climate task force inside Interior and revokes a series of anti-conservation orders from the Trump years. “That order does a lot to wipe the slate clean so the agencies can get back to following the law, consistent with the best science. It’s huge just in terms of the number of bad things that it removes,” Weiss said.
Oil and gas leasing: Industry claims vs. the facts
CWP policy director Jesse Prentice-Dunn and Montana Wilderness Association's Aubrey Bertram debunk oil industry fear-mongering in today's Montana Standard. Perhaps the most important statistic for Montanans: “What the oil and gas industry doesn’t want you to know is that the number of oil rigs in operation in Montana has been steadily decreasing over the past 20 years, from a peak of 27 in 2005 to zero today.”
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The business of Bureau leadership, as with the business of every other government function, consists of interacting with lawmakers and interest groups, who are centered in Washington. Were the BLM-relocation logic followed throughout government, the Securities and Exchange Commission would strike out for Manhattan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture would move to Iowa, and the Pentagon would relocate to the Middle East. Colorado officials know this.”
