** California halts fracking permits after massive spill
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Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Drilling in California's Kern County | Wayne Hsieh ([link removed])
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state would halt the approval of permits ([link removed]) to conduct steam-injected drilling, a form of fracking, pending scientific review. That method of drilling was used by Chevron in a central California oil field that leaked 1.3 million gallons ([link removed]) of oil and water this summer.
The moratorium on new steam-injected fracking permits will continue while Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories study the drilling process and determine whether new regulations could make the process safer. California has long been a major oil producing state, currently ranking seventh according to the Energy Information Administration ([link removed]) .
** Full funding for Land and Water Conservation Fund passes key Senate hurdle
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On Tuesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted to fully and permanently fund ([link removed]) the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a critical program that uses offshore drilling revenues to increase access to public lands and recreation opportunities. The bipartisan legislation is now set for a vote before the full Senate, though it is unclear if, or when, Majority Leader McConnell would schedule such a vote.
Quick hits
** Auditors deliver scathing rebuke of Utah's environmental and safety oversight of oil and gas wells
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) | KUTV ([link removed])
** Representatives urge appropriators to block funding for BLM headquarters relocation
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The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
** Outdoor companies feeling the squeeze of China trade war, pay billions in tariffs
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E&E News ([link removed])
** What America lost when it lost its bison
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The Atlantic ([link removed])
** With declining coal and oil industries, Wyoming faces crisis
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WyoFile ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
** Study finds 99 percent of endangered species are sensitive to climate change, but regulators are failing to act
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The Hill ([link removed])
** After deadly home explosion, Colorado regulators weigh mapping flowlines
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KUNC ([link removed])
** Full funding for Land and Water Conservation Fund passes key Senate hurdle
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The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
With only a fraction of reassignment employees opting to relocate, we are extremely concerned that moving forward with the relocation would increasingly jeopardize oversight, not to mention the protection of public lands from oil and gas interests.”
—Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and U.S. Representatives, The Hill ([link removed])
Picture this
Hot air balloons over Utah's Valley of the Gods
Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])
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