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


** Oil and gas lease sales prove removing parcels, raising royalty rates were good decisions
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Friday, July 1, 2022
A pumpjack on public land in Wyoming. BLM Wyoming, Flickr ([link removed])

The Biden administration's first onshore oil and gas lease sales are over and the results are in. Companies scooped up around 60 percent of 120,000 acres offered in Wyoming and all 521 acres offered in New Mexico, proving the increased royalty rate sought by the Bureau of Land Management in this sale isn't an issue in states with promising oil fields.

Meanwhile, leases offered in states like Colorado, Nevada, and Montana drew barely any interest, proving the BLM was right to remove sensitive public land and land with low oil production potential from this lease sale.

“Shrinking this sale and raising federal royalty rates to align with those levied at the state level shows that the Biden administration is listening to those who are tired of seeing our public lands sold at bargain basement prices,” Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala said ([link removed]) . “Now, the administration needs to go beyond these temporary changes with top-to-bottom reform of the oil and gas leasing system. The era of oil and gas companies locking up our public lands while ripping off taxpayers needs to end.”
Just as the onshore lease sales wrapped up, the White House informed the press that it would miss a self imposed deadline yesterday to ([link removed]) release a five-year offshore leasing proposal for the outer continental shelf. ([link removed]) Interior Communications Director Melissa Schwartz said that plan is still in the works ([link removed]) but did not say when to expect it.



** Look West summer break
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Look West will be on summer break next week. Get out and enjoy your public lands. We'll be back in your inbox on July 11 with more news from around the West. Thanks for reading!
Quick hits


** Is hydrogen really a clean fuel?
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Colorado to release new water plan aimed at addressing shortages
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Colorado Sun ([link removed]'s%20future&text=The%20Colorado%20Water%20Conservation%20Board,projected%20water%20shortages%20by%202050.)


** Supreme Court decision in EPA case could chill federal regulation, Biden promises to press on
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E&E News ([link removed]) [regulation] | E&E News ([link removed]) [Biden]


** Opinion: Colorado’s leadership needed to support conservation goal
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** DOE to buy 1 million pounds of uranium for strategic reserve
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Yellowstone will reopen most of northern loop this weekend
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** In Western Colorado, a Pride Month celebration on the Colorado River
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CPR ([link removed])


** A community near Scottsdale, Arizona, is running out of water. Who will be next?
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New Yorker ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” And let’s say the obvious: The stakes are high. Yet the court today prevents congressionally authorized agency action to curb power plants' carbon dioxide emissions. The court appoints itself—instead of Congress or the expert agency—the decision maker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.”
—Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, CBS News ([link removed])
Picture this


** @YellowstoneNPS ([link removed])
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6/30 UPDATE ⚠️ Yellowstone to reopen north loop July 2 and suspend Alternating License Plate System, 93% of roadways will be open! Learn more: www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/conditions.htm ([link removed])

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