Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Interior's two-pronged 2022 energy strategy
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Friday, January 21, 2022
Renewable Energy Development in the California Desert. Photo courtesy of Tom Brewster Photography. BLM Flickr ([link removed])

2022 could be a pivotal year for determining whether President Biden will secure a clean energy legacy and move away from the fossil fuel production that has dominated public lands policy for over a century.

The Interior Department is a key player in Biden's clean energy agenda, and is poised to pursue a dual-track ([link removed]) of ramping up development of renewable energy on public lands and offshore while also addressing outdated regulations for mining coal and leasing federal oil and gas.

If reforms are enacted, like raising royalty rates for drilling and strengthening bonding requirements, they would represent the most significant changes ([link removed]) to federal leasing practices for oil and gas in decades. The administration has also indicated a desire to address the climate impacts of coal mining and revamp the list of critical minerals to better reflect market conditions and national priorities and take into account climate consequences. In addition, efforts to stem methane emissions from abandoned infrastructure and plug orphan oil and gas wells are a high priority ([link removed]) .

On the renewables front, Interior is on track to deploy historic investments ([link removed]) in wind and solar energy development on public lands. The administration has set a goal to permit at least 25,000 megawatts of onshore renewable energy projects by 2025. The Bureau of Land Management currently has 54 renewable energy projects ([link removed]) under evaluation in the permitting pipeline, and 40 of those proposed projects are solar. Interior just announced an offshore wind sale for New York with the potential for additional sales offshore California and in the Gulf of Mexico. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland ([link removed]) called the pivot toward developing renewable energy sources a
"once-in-a-generation opportunity to fight climate change and create good-paying, union jobs in the United States."

As the demand for clean energy sources continues to grow, the Biden administration must continue to tackle the climate crisis head-on.
Quick hits


** One of the busiest roadways in Montana is also one of the deadliest for wildlife. Solutions are a long time coming.
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Montana Free Press ([link removed])


** 450 scientists call on PR firms to cut ties with fossil fuel clients
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Bill Gates bets on nuclear in Wyoming coal town
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Interior's 2-pronged 2022 energy strategy
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Natural gas companies claim "responsibly sourced," but critics warn it's just greenwashing
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Bloomberg ([link removed])


** Outcry over bottled water company draining seeps and springs from California national forest
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** National parks break visitation records, establish new lottery and reservation systems
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WATE ([link removed]) [Great Smoky Mountain records] | CNN ([link removed]) [Yosemite lottery system] | Denver Post ([link removed]) [Rocky Mountain backcountry reservations]


** Ethyl the grizzly bear rambled across 2,800 miles of Montana and Idaho
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Missoulian ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” I can’t get over the ultimate irony of a company draining an area that’s so drought prone. This is a national forest. It’s something that should be cared for, for people and not for profit. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

—Bridger Zadina, environmental activist, Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
Picture this


** @USFWS ([link removed])
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Did you know Nevada ranks 8th for the number of butterflies found in a single state or that this state has 309 wildlife and plant species found nowhere else in the world? Here are 10 things you didn’t know about nature in Nevada: [link removed] ([link removed]) Photo: USFWS

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