** The "natural gas and oil" industry's efforts to shift public opinion
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Thursday, January 9, 2020
A natural gas flare burns off excess methane. Source: Globalchange.gov ([link removed])
The American Petroleum Institute (API) announced plans to spend $1 million ([link removed]) on a new advertising campaign to portray the oil and gas industry as part of the solution for lowering carbon emissions by taking credit for the low price of natural gas as a significant contributing factor for lowering coal use. While cheap natural gas may have had an impact on shuttering coal operations, the assertion that the industry is a climate champion is undermined by recent reporting that both BP and Chevron paid millions ([link removed]) of dollars to an Alaska Native Corporation to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling exploration.
Several presidential candidates have released proposals ([link removed]) in recent months to suggest banning hydraulic fracturing, better known as "fracking," and terminating oil and gas leasing on public lands. As part of the rollout for the new ad campaign, the head of API told a gathering of oil executives ([link removed]) , members of Congress, officials from the Trump administration and labor union representatives that a fracking ban would quickly lead to a global recession. The assertion was swiftly debunked by multiple economists.
** Interior restructures, consolidates FOIA review process
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Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed a Secretarial Order ([link removed]) to restructure the agency's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response protocol by establishing a "Departmental FOIA Office." The order calls for the "Deputy Chief FOIA Officer" overseeing the new office to have the authority to "assert control over any aspect of any FOIA request." Critics of the move worry that it will further hinder the public disclosure of information ([link removed]) .
Quick hits
** Montana grants permit extension for Navajo-owned coal mine
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E&E News ([link removed])
** BP & Chevron paid millions to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling
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Alaska Public Media ([link removed])
** Trump administration expected to change environmental law to speed approval of highway, energy projects
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
** Montana releases environmental analysis for potential bison restoration on public lands
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The Missoulian ([link removed])
** "Natural gas and oil" industry announces spending on ad campaign to portray itself as climate champion
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed]) | Grist ([link removed])
** Interior Department restructures and consolidates FOIA response process
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Editorial: Coal industry job losses due to market forces and environmental concerns should not be forgotten
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Billings Gazette ([link removed])
** Opinion: Moving the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Colorado is not good for public lands
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The Conversation ([link removed])
Quote of the day
The job of BLM leaders in Washington, D.C. is to make decisions that respond to directives from the president and Congress. Moving them west won’t change that dynamic – but it could impoverish agency decision making in several ways.”
—Public lands scholars, John Freemuth and John R. Skillen ([link removed])
Picture this
** @ ([link removed]) Interior ([link removed])
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There’s something really cool about snow in the desert. Check out this frosty day at Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument #NewMexico ([link removed])
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