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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a sweeping set of rules today that includes provisions aimed at easing the process of transferring national public lands and expediting the process of passing legislation requiring the Department of Energy to plan for more leasing of public lands to oil and gas companies in order to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The land transfer rule was first passed in 2017 when Republicans last controlled the lower chamber. The language in today’s rules package appears almost identical to the 2017 version, which was authored by former Utah Rep. Rob Bishop. It makes it easier for members of Congress to cede federal control of public lands by directing the federal government not to consider lost revenues from giving national public lands to states, local governments, or tribal entities. Supporters of land seizure efforts, many of whom are inspired by the Sagebrush Rebellion movement, argue that this allows the state or local government to earn revenue off the land, often by privatizing it. One notable effort to dispose of 3 million acres of public land in Utah in this manner failed due to public opposition.
The other anti-public lands provision in this rules package expedites the process of passing a bill that ties federal oil and gas leasing to Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases. The bill was mentioned as a priority of the new House last week by incoming House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. The draft bill, titled the Strategic Production Response Act, requires that all non-emergency drawdowns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are met with a plan to lease a percentage of public land for oil and gas production equal to the percentage of oil scheduled to be released from the SPR, capped at 10 percent. Such a plan would not increase oil and gas production in the short term, but could, if implemented, lock up millions more acres of public land for drilling decades down the road.
“These extremist efforts to liquidate and lock up national public lands show that House Republicans are completely out of step with the public on issues affecting the West. Westerners want more access to public lands, not less—and they want their public lands protected, not exploited for private profit," Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala said.
White House releases new emissions permitting guidance for federal agencies
The White House Council on Environmental Quality released updated guidance for federal agencies on the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews. The guidance aims to improve efficiency and transparency in the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the White House, including the appropriate use of the social cost of carbon.
Experts say the guidance may lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to more heavily scrutinize the potential emissions of projects like natural gas pipelines and LNG terminals when permitting them.
“If you’ve been pressing FERC to do a better job of accounting for the climate impacts of natural gas infrastructure, then this is welcome guidance,” Cale Jaffe, a law professor at the University of Virginia, told E&E News.
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We protect forests, canyons, rivers, deserts and shorelines for their natural beauty and species on the brink of extinction... What we need now are protected areas for species with the genetic resilience to survive the extremes of climate change.”
