** Senate confirms Biden's pick for Bureau of Land Management
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Friday, October 1, 2021
Tracy Stone-Manning has been confirmed as the head of the Bureau of Land Management
For the first time since the beginning of 2017, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will have a Senate-confirmed director. Yesterday, in a 50-45 vote ([link removed]) , the Senate confirmed Tracy Stone-Manning as the director of the BLM ([link removed]) after an extended confirmation process.
The Bureau of Land Management manages about 10% of the land in the United States ([link removed]) , making it absolutely essential to ensuring that public lands are part of the solution to both the nature and climate crises ([link removed]) . “Few agencies are as important for protecting and promoting America’s public lands, and in the years to come, the BLM will play an even greater role in our government’s efforts to fight climate change,” said ([link removed]) majority leader Chuck Schumer.
With proper leadership, the agency will be central to President Biden's goal of curbing fossil fuel extraction on public lands and transitioning to renewable energy. Currently, the BLM's oil and gas leasing system is woefully broken ([link removed]) , allowing oil and gas companies to nominate leases anonymously, scoop up leases at absurdly low prices, and abandon wells to be dealt with by taxpayers. The Biden administration is working to finalize a major review of the program ([link removed]) , but an associated report has been significantly delayed, raising questions about the priority being placed on climate change and public lands within the administration.
The Biden administration has also made a commitment to protecting 30% of America's lands and waters by 2030, a goal that will need to be turned to by all land management agencies, including the BLM. However, the administration has thus far made few actions to move towards this goal ([link removed]) .
Stone-Manning's leadership will come at a time when the BLM has been undermined for years by former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and de facto director and public-lands extremist William Perry Pendley, who was ordered to leave the post by a federal judge. Under the Trump administration, the BLM headquarters was moved to Colorado, resulting in a mass-exodus of career talent within the agency ([link removed]) and shifting it away from the center of power in Washington D.C. Last month, the Biden administration announced that the agency will move its headquarters back to Washington ([link removed]) while leaving a regional hub in Grand Junction.
Quick hits
** President Biden sets off Trump’s carbon bomb in the Gulf of Mexico, sets date for massive lease sale
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The Hill ([link removed])
** Colorado coal mines get royalty cuts worth millions, Polis doesn’t object
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
** Opinion: An unearthly call is now silent, but we can still save our wildlife from extinction
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USA Today ([link removed])
** In your Facebook feed: Oil industry pushback against Biden climate plans
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New York Times ([link removed])
** Drilling leases on 58,000 acres of public land in Colorado were awarded without proper environmental review
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
** Editorial: Protect monuments before more damage occurs
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Santa Fe New Mexican ([link removed])
** Firefighters are trying to keep sequoias around through their 3,000th birthdays. Here’s how.
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Washington Post ([link removed])
** Where do public lands factor into the homelessness crisis?
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High Country News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
President Biden is doing Donald Trump’s bidding today. This lease sale will be devastating for the Earth’s climate, and set America back years on our path to a climate solution. Next month, President Biden will travel to Glasgow for the UN climate conference, where he will encourage other countries to do as he says, not as he does. Just days later, he will set the timer on a carbon bomb in the Gulf of Mexico.”
—Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss, T ([link removed]) he Hill ([link removed])
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** @I ([link removed]) nterior ([link removed])
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ICYMI: Yesterday a new eruption within Hawai’i’s Halemaʻumaʻu crater at Kīlauea’s summit began. Follow @USGSVolcanoes ([link removed]) for the latest updates and live-camera footage. [link removed] ([link removed])
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