Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced updates to Resource Management Plans (RMPs) for millions of acres of BLM-managed land in Wyoming and Montana, eliminating all new coal leasing until 2038. House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response: "The Biden administration is weaponizing federal agencies to advance their radical climate agenda. They are eliminating future coal leasing in Wyoming and Montana for the next 14 years while the U.S. struggles to meet base load power requirements and hardworking families pay r... Read More »
Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a full committee oversight hearing on the environmental agenda of President Joe Biden’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the agency’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget request. Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response: "The extremists in the Biden administration converted a once small and narrowly focused agency into an unchecked political leviathan that's weaseled its way into every corner of American life. President Biden has deputized the most extreme members of his administration to advance a... Read More »
Today, Ranking Member Rob Bishop (R-Utah) released the following statement regarding the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 133). Provisions in the package within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Natural Resources include prioritizing renewable energy development on federal lands, securing a domestic critical minerals and materials supply chain, and Indian water rights settlements and related provisions that have been neglected in recent years. “An omnibus appropriation is a bad way to legislate. Working within this flawed process, there were areas where bipartisan consensus was f... Read More »
Replay the Environmental Protection Agency’s apparent disregard for the Endangered Species Act requirements through the very animals they are affecting. The EPA thought they had it all figured out. They were going to shut down some power plants, solidify the President’s climate legacy, and nothing was going to stand in their way. Unfortunately, they forgot one minor detail: the law. Under the Endangered Species Act, federal agencies must make sure their actions do not jeopardize listed species or destroy critical habitat. Had the EPA followed the Endangered Species Act, it would have gone some... Read More »
The current regulatory framework for water in the West is wrought with twists, turns, obstacles, and wasted resources. Follow the path and find how H.R. 2898, The Western Water and American Food Security Act, provides relief from challenges caused by inconsistent laws, court decisions, and regulations at the state and federal levels. To learn more about the bill, click here. Read More »
On the 10th annual Endangered Species Day, we're taking a look back at all of the ways the Endangered Species Act is stuck in the 70s, as told by other things that happened (and are no longer relevant) in 1973. P.S. There's a bonus you won't want to miss. 1. It is not recovering species The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is supposed to prevent species from going extinct, but the results just aren’t there. Since the law was enacted in 1973, more than 1,500 U.S. domestic species and sub-species have been listed as endangered; however, only, at best, two percent have been recovered. The long lines ... Read More »
1. Itchy Palms – According to the superstition, if the right hand itches, money is coming in, but if the left hand itches money is going out. The Administration's budget request for the U.S. Department of the Interior includes millions of new taxpayer dollars, so there will definitely be some cash flow. Tune in to see the federal government try to purchase even more federal lands, despite an existing deferred maintenance backlog estimated at $23 billion! We don’t think that can be treated with calamine lotion. 2. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue – These hearings... Read More »
