** Biden's tour of the West a chance to commit on climate action, public lands drilling reform
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Monday, September 13, 2021
President Joe Biden | White House Flickr ([link removed])

President Biden will tour the Western United States ([link removed]) this week, making stops in California, Idaho, and Colorado to tout his economic agenda. The visit comes as states across the region have experienced record breaking heat, raging wildfires, and historic drought, all fueled by climate change. While the Biden administration has taken many actions to address climate emissions, it is going backwards in one very specific area—oil and gas drilling on our public lands.

As Biden calls for Congress to act, his administration is preparing to auction off drilling rights ([link removed]) to more than 700,000 acres of public land in Colorado and Wyoming. In the Gulf of Mexico, the president is moving ahead with a fire sale, offering oil and gas companies 80,000,000 offshore acres for drilling—an area larger than all but four U.S. states.

The Biden administration does have many tools to reform the broken and outdated system governing public lands drilling. Earlier this year, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland sent a report to the White House detailing specific ways to change policies that have benefited oil companies at the expense of taxpayers, communities, and our climate. Further, Secretary Deb Haaland has broad discretion to determine which public lands, if any, are made available for oil and gas leasing. In recent weeks, Congressional committees have advanced legislation ([link removed]) to reform the public lands drilling system, taking action while the Biden administration has seemingly reversed course.

In a column in today's Denver Post ([link removed]) , Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala wrote, "Next month, the president will head to a global climate summit, urging world leaders to cut carbon emissions, while he simultaneously expands oil and gas drilling at home and does nothing to fix a broken leasing system. When the president encourages Congress and the world to act, he has an obligation to lead by example. President Biden has the power to take substantial steps to address the climate crisis via America’s public lands. If you see him in Colorado, tell him it’s past time for him to use it."
Quick hits


** Depleted by drought, Lakes Powell and Mead were doomed from the start
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** States across American West see hottest summer on record as climate change accelerates
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The Guardian ([link removed]) | Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** Opinion: Biden's visit to Denver is a chance to commit to climate action on public lands
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Denver Post ([link removed])


** Four major climate items in Congress' reconciliation bill, from drilling reform to conservation
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Colorado Newsline ([link removed])


** Is the coal industry behind a secretive plan to preserve a defunct California railroad?
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** How a shot of recycled water revived the Santa Cruz River—and wildlife that depends on it—in Tucson
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])


** To avoid another Dust Bowl, farmers work to restore native grasslands as groundwater disappears
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** EPA moves to protect Alaska's Bristol Bay from massive proposed gold mine
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Washington Post ([link removed])
Quote of the day
It doesn’t take much water to have a massive benefit. A little bit of water is supporting an enormous amount of life.”
—Michael Bogan ([link removed]) , ecologist, on the return of Tucson's Santa Cruz River
Picture this


** @Interior ([link removed])
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The Rainbow Mountain Wilderness in Nevada emerges from the valley floor, standing guard over the Mojave Desert below. Its sheer, towering red and white cliffs are cut by rugged and twisting canyons. With no motorized vehicles allowed, you'll find solitude in this wild place.

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