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


** How the new climate deal affects public lands
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Thursday, July 28, 2022
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is a swing vote in the evenly divided Senate; Third Way Think Tank, Flickr ([link removed])

After saying he couldn't reach a deal with his fellow Democrats and the White House on climate action just two weeks ago ([link removed]) , Sen. Joe Manchin announced late Wednesday that he and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have agreed on ([link removed]) a sweeping bill that addresses inflation, healthcare costs, and climate change—promising to cut carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 ([link removed])

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 ([link removed]) makes unprecedented investments in fighting climate change ([link removed]) as well as major reforms to the federal onshore oil and gas leasing program ([link removed]) . It raises royalty and rental rates as well as minimum bids, adds a $5 per acre fee for expressing interest in federal land for leasing, eliminates non-competitive leasing, significantly increases bonding requirements for new oil and gas wells, and adds a royalty on all methane that is extracted from public lands, including methane that is vented or flared. It also includes significant funding to clean up abandoned wells and for methane mitigation and monitoring.

“This bill includes the first meaningful reforms to the oil and gas leasing system in a hundred years. If it becomes law, it will represent a turning point in America’s energy and climate policy. The climate measures in the reconciliation bill are a major victory for the country, and the reforms to oil and gas leasing will ensure taxpayers get a fair return during the transition to a clean energy economy,” Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala said. ([link removed])

The bill ([link removed]) also contains some counterproductive measures ([link removed]) , including reinstating the contested November 2021 offshore lease sale, requiring the Interior Secretary to hold onshore and offshore lease sales of at least 2,000,000 and 60,000,000 acres, respectively, in order to hold renewable energy lease sales ([link removed]) , and requiring the onshore lease sales to include at least 50% of the acres nominated by oil and gas companies.

Schumer said he plans to attach the bill ([link removed]) to existing legislation and hold a vote on it next week.
Quick hits


** Upper Colorado River leaders push back against federal ask for conservation
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KUNC ([link removed])


** What's in the historic climate bill that promises to cut carbon emissions by 40 percent?
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) [40 percent]


** Report: Big Oil was quick to jack up gas prices at the pump but slow to drop them
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Salon ([link removed])


** Willow oil project faces tight timeline; conservation groups push for delay
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Chugach Times ([link removed])


** Final steps for crucial preservation of over 400,000 acres in Colorado
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Colorado Newsline ([link removed])


** Sen. Wyden introduces bill to fund grassland conservation
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | Outdoor Life ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** The largest Audubon group is changing its name, rebuking an enslaver
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Was Yellowstone’s deadliest wolf hunt in 100 years an inside job?
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The Intercept ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” I am pleased to report that this will be, by far, the biggest climate action in human history... Nearly $370 billion in tax incentives, grants, and other investments in clean energy, clean transportation, energy storage, home electrification, climate-smart agriculture, and clean manufacturing makes this a real climate bill. The planet is on fire. Emissions reductions are the main thing. This is enormous progress. Let's get it done.”
—Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz, ABC News ([link removed])
Picture this


** @Interior ([link removed])
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Some of the first park rangers in America weren’t rangers at all. They were Buffalo Soldiers — African Americans who served in the U.S. Army after the Civil War. Buffalo Soldiers Day celebrates the legacy of these first-of-a-kind, trailblazing rangers. Photo at @YellowstoneNPS ([link removed])

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