In a filing late Friday, the Biden administration's U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) defended two Trump-era resource management plans (RMPs) that failed to comply with a court order to account for impacts from burning publicly-owned coal, including on public health, and to consider alternatives that limit coal leasing on public lands in the Powder River Basin – the largest coal-producing region in the country.
Today, the Biden administration released a report updating Americans on the progress towards the ‘America the Beautiful’ plan, also known as 30x30, a framework to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands, freshwater, and ocean areas by 2030 and ensure all people have access to the outdoors.
Today, the Department of the Interior released its final report calling for reforms of the current fossil fuel leasing program on public lands and offshore.
Today, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the formation of a departmental task force to review and replace racist and derogatory place names among the country’s geographic features.
Today, the Bureau of Land Management announced a plan to defer a number of leases from upcoming onshore oil and gas lease sales and issue draft environmental assessments for these leases. BLM will solicit feedback on the leases and analyze environmental impacts including national greenhouse gas emissions and the social cost of greenhouse gases.
Today, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids called on Congress to maintain full funding for critical outdoors programs in the final version of the federal reconciliation bill. The package drafted by the House of Representatives includes nearly $35 billion in funding for federal programs to support community tree planting, urban parks development, nearby nature access, and youth access to the outdoors and nature. While these programs are popular and necessary for taking on the climate crisis, their full funding is being threatened by potential cuts to the $3.5 trillion package.
This week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources held a hearing on a series of bills, including Senator Padilla’s PUBLIC Lands Act (S.1459). The legislation would protect more than one million acres of public lands and well over 500 miles of rivers in California’s Northwest, Central Coast, and Los Angeles regions. Senator Padilla testified in support of the legislation in the hearing.
Reports emerged this month that Congress was considering massive cuts to the proposed Civilian Climate Corps in the Build Back Better Act to meet the fiscal demands of moderate Democrats. Such a move would severely limit the impact of the modern CCC, leaving many vulnerable communities at risk to the increasing threats of climate change. The modern CCC is consistently one of the most popular proposals in the reconciliation bill, with a majority of Americans — including a majority of Republicans — in favor of the program.
Washington, DC -- The Biden administration has announced it will recommend a full restoration of safeguards for three national monuments whose boundaries were shrunk by the Trump administration. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments as well as Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument protect about five million acres of federal land and water — and will help the Biden administration achieve its goals of conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030.
The federal reconciliation bill drafted by House Democrats is shaping up to be one of the largest investments in outdoor accessibility and equity in a generation.