** Interior ends leasing pause, offers thousands of acres for auction
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Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Photo courtesy of Caitlin Heryford, BLM Wyoming Intern. Source: BLM Flickr ([link removed])

The Interior Department announced ([link removed]) a suite of potential lease sales across the country, both onshore and offshore. The department will accept 30 days of public input on the proposed parcels that vary in size from 14 acres in Oklahoma to thousands of acres in Wyoming and Montana.

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden enacted a pause ([link removed]) on new leases while the Interior Department undertook a comprehensive review of the federal oil and gas program that critics contend is rigged against taxpayers, public health, and the climate. Industry challenged the moratorium in court ([link removed]) and recently convinced a judge to order Interior to lift the pause, even though the Interior Department has yet to release its review. On Tuesday the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced ([link removed]) thousands of acres that could be sold at auction in the first quarter of 2022.

While drilling industry representatives welcomed the announcement, climate advocates and others who have called on the Biden administration to reform the leasing system expressed concern. “Committing more public land to filthy fossil fuel extraction is disastrous policy that will only worsen the climate and extinction crises,” said ([link removed]) Taylor McKinnon with the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re out of time. The Biden administration must move fast to bring an orderly end to the federal fossil fuel program.”


** Lawmakers call for increased funding to Interior climate programs
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68 lawmakers sent a letter ([link removed]) to congressional leaders in both chambers calling for more funding to go to the Department of the Interior (DOI) as part of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. According to the lawmakers, the current amount slated for Interior falls tens of billions short ([link removed]) of what is needed to sufficiently address a suite of environmental crises, including climate change.

The lawmakers' concerns are timely, as 99% of the American West is currently in drought ([link removed]) , wildfire seasons have grown significantly longer than they were a few decades ago, and scientists are raising alarms about a mass extinction of plant and animal species. The letter says ([link removed]) , "Simply put, we cannot claim to be taking climate change seriously if our budget fails to invest in essential DOI climate mitigation and resiliency programs.” The House Natural Resources Committee is set to mark up ([link removed]) its portion of the reconciliation bill this Thursday, which includes funding for the Interior Department.
Quick hits


** Opinion: Flagstaff mayor supports Biden's 30x30 conservation plan
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Arizona Daily Sun ([link removed])


** Report: Revenue-raising opportunities to fund climate and conservation
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Center for American Progress ([link removed])


** Interior ends leasing pause, offers thousands of acres for auction
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The Hill ([link removed]) | Bloomberg Law ([link removed]) | CPR ([link removed]) | Reuters ([link removed]) | Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) | Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Biden opens new federal office to focus specifically on the public health dangers of climate change
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Lawmakers call for increasing funding to Interior in budget reconciliation bill
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Roll Call ([link removed])


** Interior denies Alaska's request for oil and gas related seismic surveys in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
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Politico ([link removed])


** Opinion: Worrying about your carbon footprint is exactly what the fossil fuel industry wants you to do
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New York Times ([link removed])


** 15 national monuments to visit across the U.S.
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BuzzFeed News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
In the West, local elected officials like myself understand that healthy local economies and healthy communities are inseparably linked to a healthy environment. Nature provides us with food and clean water, shelter, medicine and economic opportunity. Westerners acknowledge this and have expressed support for the 30x30 goal, as described in President Biden’s plan for Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful ([link removed]) . A recent poll found that 73% of Western voters in eight states are in favor of the 30x30 objective to conserve more of our natural places."
—Paul Deasy, Mayor of Flagstaff, Arizona, Arizona Daily Sun ([link removed])
Picture this


** Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park at sunset is truly stunning. A spectacular piece of human engineering and ingenuity. Photo credit: @aaronwe ([link removed])
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#findyourpark ([link removed]) #nationalpark ([link removed]) #nationalparkservice ([link removed]) #mesaverde ([link removed]) #colorado ([link removed]) #coloradogram ([link removed]) #getoutside ([link removed])

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