** "Energy dominance" backfires in Utah
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Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Oil and gas development in Utah ([link removed])
In an effort to fast-track oil and gas development, the Interior Department, under Secretary David Bernhardt, has offered up millions of acres of public lands for leasing. But following a court ruling in March of 2019, the Bureau of Land Management has been forced to withdraw leases for failing to analyze the associated greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts. The administration's "energy dominance" agenda appears to be backfiring in Utah, where, for the fourth time this year, the BLM has decided to reanalyze thousands of acres of leases ([link removed]) that had previously been sold for development in recent years.
The actions show that the BLM is acknowledging that inadequate environmental analysis conducted for these parcels would not hold up in court. Many of these parcels in Utah were also sold off without significant public input and the same situation is playing out in other Western states. “This map is only going to get bigger. This is a mess of BLM’s own making. This is the outcome of the blind rush for energy dominance,” said ([link removed]) Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance attorney Landon Newell.
Quick hits
** Group wants lands set aside for conservation in southern NM where 97 percent of land is open for oil, gas leasing
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Albuquerque Journal ([link removed])
** Idaho, Montana, Wyoming have cut funding for state environmental agencies
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Mountain West News Bureau ([link removed])
** Research indicates EPA underestimates methane emissions from oil and gas production in New Mexico
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Albuquerque Journal ([link removed])
** BLM withdraws oil and gas leases in Utah due to inadequate climate reviews
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
** Many national parks, national monument entrance fees to increase in 2020
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Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])
** BLM staff face a decision: move West or move on
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KJZZ ([link removed])
** Opinion: BLM interim director sympathetic to Sagebrush Rebellion crowd
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Las Vegas Review-Journal ([link removed])
** Opinion: This isn’t the first time that Interior Department actions have benefited Bernhardt’s prior clients
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San Francisco Chronicle ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Mr. Pendley is irresponsibly undermining federal laws on federal lands, thus proving that he is unfit to direct the BLM — or any other federal agency. He should resign or be removed from office forthwith."
—Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project ([link removed])
Picture this
** There’s something really cool about snow in the desert. Check out this frosty day at Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument #NewMexico | @Interior ([link removed])
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