Public Lands Clips: June 26, 2024

 

 

Will Biden Use The Debate To Brag About Record Oil Production? — “The U.S. is shattering records for oil and gas production under President Joe Biden, but he might not want to say that in Thursday’s high-stakes debate with Donald Trump. When Biden and the Republican former president face off in the first of two scheduled debates between the White House contenders, Biden will be in a pickle. Bragging about his record fossil fuel production could turn off climate voters, a key bloc in the Democratic base. Not doing so might leave him vulnerable with independents concerned with high prices. The dynamic could force Biden, who has made fighting climate change a pillar of his second-term pitch, to walk a rhetorical tightrope. ‘I think it’s hard to campaign on a green agenda while touting oil production peaks,’ said Kevin Book, a prominent energy consultant who helps run the nonpartisan research firm ClearView Energy Partners. ‘I don’t think the Biden administration or the Biden campaign is likely to lead with record oil production,’ he said. ‘It seems like more of a defensive riposte than an offensive strike.’” [E&E News, 6/26/24 (=)]

 

Biden Climate Aide: Record U.S. Oil And Gas Output A "Good Thing" — “Senior White House climate aide John Podesta is embracing record U.S. oil and gas production and LNG exports while pushing for transition from fossil fuels ‘over time.’ Why it matters: His remarks to the Guardian capture the delicate White House posture as tomorrow’s presidential debate looms. The big picture: ‘The U.S. is now the number one producer of oil and gas in the world, the number one exporter of natural gas, and that’s a good thing,’ Podesta said. ‘[That’s] because following the illegal invasion of Ukraine, and the need that Europe had to rely on different sources rather than Russia fossils, it was important that the U.S. could step up and supply a good deal of that need.’ ‘But over time, the science is clear, we’ve got to transition away and begin to replace those resources with both zero carbon electricity and renewable resources.’” [Axios, 6/26/24 (=)]

 

White House Picks Winning Climate Agencies — “The Interior Department, the U.S. Postal Service and a California Air Force base are among the winners of sustainability awards presented Tuesday by the Biden administration. The White House announced the winners of its Presidential Federal Sustainability Awards, which recognize federal agencies and employees for their work on sustainability and climate resilience, the White House announced. Award recipients were slated to be honored Tuesday at a White House ceremony. The award winners ‘represent the very best of our Federal workforce and agencies who have tackled complex challenges and delivered results for a cleaner, more efficient Federal Government,’ White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory said in a statement. The winning agencies are advancing the Biden administration’s goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions from government operations, the White House said. One of the winners, the Interior Department, was recognized for its departmentwide approach to reducing plastic pollution. The department announced a goal in 2022 to phase out single-use plastics on Interior-managed lands by 2032.” [E&E News, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

 

 

House

 

Bill Would Give Wildlife Corridors A Bipartisan Boost — “Lawmakers would give a green light to wildlife migration corridors under a new bill that shows how the issue garners remarkably bipartisan support. In a rarely seen alliance, conservative Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana and liberal Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia co-authored legislation dubbed the ‘Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act.’ The multi-faceted measure would establish an Interior Department program to assist states, tribes and regional partnerships in conserving wildlife migration routes and boost related mapping efforts by the U.S. Geological Survey, among other steps. ‘Wildlife follow the path that has been bred and programmed into them over generations with no understanding of the distinctions between private and public or federal and state land,’ Zinke said in a statement. ‘That’s why collaboration and partnerships are so important when managing migratory species such as pronghorn, big horn, and mule deer.’ While serving as Interior secretary in the first two years of the Trump administration, Zinke initiated a secretarial order likewise designed to boost wildlife migration corridors. He cast the new bill as one to ‘solidify the intent and purpose of the program’ supporting public-private partnerships that aid migratory big game.” [E&E News, 6/26/24 (+)]

 

House Appropriators Target NOAA For Deep Spending Cuts — “House appropriators unveiled legislation Tuesday that would force NOAA to make big budget cuts next year, part of a larger effort to reduce the Department of Commerce’s discretionary spending by 9 percent in fiscal 2025. The Commerce Department, which oversees NOAA, would receive $980 million less than it did in fiscal 2024 under the Republican bill set for a subcommittee markup Wednesday. As part of their pledge to rein in federal spending, House GOP appropriators rejected President Joe Biden’s call to increase NOAA’s spending by nearly 4 percent for fiscal 2025. While Biden proposed a budget of roughly $6.6 billion, GOP appropriators suggested whittling it down to $5.6 billion. If approved, that would be a cut of $676 million from the spending approved by Congress in fiscal 2024. ‘This bill prioritizes fiscal sanity and the liberties of the American people,’ said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chair of the full Appropriations Committee.” [E&E News, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

Gone With The Wind — “Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), an ardent critic of offshore wind who helped launch a caucus to support the industry three years ago, has left the bipartisan group as it shifts to new leadership. Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) are continuing as co-chairs of the House Offshore Wind Caucus, while Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) are now also co-chairs. The caucus now has 30 members. Van Drew told ME in a statement that as he learned more about the offshore wind industry, he ‘realized that the negative impacts of these projects far outweigh their benefits.’ He said offshore wind farms would harm marine ecosystems, increase utility costs for consumers and increase dependence on foreign energy because ‘the industry is predominantly controlled by European corporations.’ He added he wholeheartedly supports ‘more viable and responsible alternatives such as solar and nuclear power.’” [Politico, 6/26/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

 

Drilling Permit Challenge Should Stay Dead, DOI Tells DC Circ. — “The U.S. Department of the Interior told the D.C. Circuit a federal judge correctly ruled environmental groups cannot challenge the federal approval of thousands of drilling permits in New Mexico and Wyoming because they failed to establish any particularized injury. Rather than tying their allegations of harm to any particular permit approval to secure Article III standing, the Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians, Citizens Caring for the Future and New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light have chosen to pursue an ‘all-or-nothing approach,’ the DOI said in a brief filed Monday. ‘This ‘cumulative’ approach to Article III injury and standing is not proper,’ the DOI said. ‘Federal courts are a forum for adjudicating controversies over discrete actions, and plaintiffs have not established standing to challenge the [Bureau of Land Management’s] implementation of Congress’s oil and gas policies in two states over more than a year.’ According to court documents, the groups filed suit in June 2022, seeking to vacate more than 4,000 oil and gas drilling permits issued in the first year and a half of the Biden presidency.” [Law360, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

Interior Claims Green Groups Lack Standing In Oil Drilling Case — “The Interior Department urged the D.C. Circuit to uphold a lower court’s decision that environmental groups can’t challenge approvals for more than 4,000 drilling permits in New Mexico and Wyoming. The groups ‘attempted to aggregate declarations of generalized injuries’ to challenge oil and gas development in the Permian and Powder River Basins broadly, but that approach isn’t proper for establishing standing, the agency told the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Monday.” [Bloomberg Law, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

 

 

U.S. Forest Service (USFS)

 

Biden’s Old-Growth Plans Cast Shadow On Timber Projects — “The Biden administration’s plans to conserve old-growth forests on federal lands are months from becoming final, but they’re already raising questions about previously approved timber projects. Supporters and opponents of the administration’s policy are compiling lists of projects on national forests to prove their points, including a 4,438-acre timber harvest canceled in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest in 2023 after a fresh look by the Forest Service. In that case, the agency cited ‘potential tension’ around the Flat Country project, even though officials said none of the logging would occur in old-growth stands. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, environmental groups called the Flat Country decision ‘a welcome example of the type of leadership the public expects when it comes to public lands and environmental protection.’ Timber industry groups had the opposite view. The retreat on the Willamette project was an early sign the administration’s approach would cast a cloud on already-approved forest management work, said Nick Smith, a spokesperson for the American Forest Resource Council. The Forest Service initiated the project in 2018, during the Trump administration.” [E&E News, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

 

 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

 

Green Groups Sue NOAA Over Protecting Tope Sharks — “Conservation groups sued NOAA on Tuesday, alleging the agency failed to miss a deadline to determine whether the tope shark should be protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. ‘Tope sharks are vanishing very quickly, so they can’t wait until federal officials find it convenient to act — they need protections now,’ said David Derrick, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. The center, along with the Defend Them All Foundation, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Both NOAA Fisheries and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who oversees NOAA, were listed as defendants. The groups said that NOAA first announced in 2022 that the tope shark, also known as the ‘soupfin shark,’ could warrant protection under federal law. But they said the agency has yet to issue a decision, even though it was required to do so by February of 2023.” [E&E News, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Supreme Court May Overturn Major Environmental Precedent This Week — “As the Supreme Court approaches the final opinion release dates of its term, environmental and administrative lawyers are waiting with bated breath to learn the fate of a legal doctrine that federal agencies have used since the Reagan administration to defend themselves in court. In two of the term’s most closely watched cases — Loper Bright v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Commerce — the justices have been asked to overturn the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, which says judges should generally defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of their powers when Congress has been unclear. The justices could decide the cases by the end of this week. While Chevron is not inherently ideological, it has become a target for some members of the high court’s conservative supermajority, who have called for the doctrine’s demise. The court has options to weaken Chevron short of overturning it, but Loper Bright and Relentless are part of a broader set of recent cases in which the justices have sought to diminish the power of expert agencies. Legal observers expect that whatever conclusion the justices reach in the cases, the Chevron doctrine is unlikely to emerge intact.” [E&E News, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

GOP Memo Outlines Post-Chevron Agenda — “Lawmakers are preparing for the Supreme Court to issue a ruling as soon as this week that could overturn or scale back a 40-year legal doctrine that helps federal agencies defend their rules against lawsuits. Staff for the conservative House Republican Study Committee released a memo Monday outlining ways in which lawmakers could exploit a potential ruling on the so-called Chevron doctrine. ‘If Chevron is rolled back or overturned,’ the memo reads, ‘this will be a landmark decision which could open the door to Congress reclaiming its Article One Authority, rolling back Biden’s woke and weaponized administrative agenda, and providing for further pro-growth regulatory policy.’ … The RSC staff is outlining potential congressional action that House Republicans have ‘historically advocated for to streamline regulation and take power away from the administrative state.’ That included H.R. 288, the ‘Separation of Powers Act,’ which would ‘codify a post-Chevron doctrine by requiring federal courts to conduct [fresh] review[s] of any agency action.’ Lawmakers could revisit H.R. 277, the ‘Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act,’ which would require Congress to approve major rules.” [E&E News, 6/26/24 (=)]

 

Split DC Circ. Backs Bush-Era Mining Deregulation — “A divided D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday upheld a Bush-era mining regulation that removed limits on how much land near a mining site can be used for secondary operations like waste disposal, ruling against environmental groups that accused regulators of illegally walking back a more restrictive interpretation of federal mining law. The majority, comprising U.S. Circuit Judges Douglas H. Ginsburg and Gregory G. Katsas, held that the ‘operative words’ of the 1872 Mining Law’s mill site provision ‘plainly contain no limit on the number of mill sites a claim owner may locate.’ That means the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management correctly interpreted the statute in 2003 when it issued a final rule stating that miners could have as many mill sites as ‘reasonably necessary,’ provided no individual site is larger than five acres, the opinion said. While a coalition of environmental organizations asserted the Mining Law strictly limits the number and acreage of mill sites, the majority had ‘no difficulty concluding that the interpretation embodied in the mill-site regulation represents the better reading of the statute.’” [Law360, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Alaska

 

Alaska Natives Infuriated With Biden Admin For Ignoring Concerns In Favor Of Climate Agenda — “The Biden Administration’s treatment of North Slope Alaska Natives has sparked outrage among Iñupiat leaders, who say their livelihoods have been disregarded in favor of scoring political points. Earlier this month, Biden’s Interior Secretary Deb Haaland finally agreed to meet with North Slope Iñupiat leaders after years of stonewalling the region’s indigenous leaders. Following the June 13 meeting, the Alaska Natives issued a lengthy statement blasting the administration, and Haaland in particular, for new and unprecedented mandates in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The meeting came after the Department of Interior’s (DOI) decision to finalize the NPR-A Rule, which drastically limits oil, gas and infrastructure development across much of the NPR-A, turning millions of acres into highly protected zones that preclude development and even many subsistence activities.” [Alaska Watchman, 6/25/24 (-)]

 

California

 

BLM Releases Final Conservation Plan For NW California Public Lands — “Conservation advocates say a new Bureau of Land Management final Environmental Impact Statement takes positive steps toward developing a management plan to conserve public lands in Northwest California. The Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan will manage more than 380,000 acres in Butte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties for at least the next two decades. John Haschak, vice chair of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, said the plan will help protect both endangered habitat and at-risk communities from the impacts of climate change, including wildfire. ‘It provides some of the protections for some of these areas that are very sensitive, like Eden Valley, which is very environmentally fragile areas, and then also the Eel River. It’s a wild and scenic river, so just making sure that these are managed properly is very important,’ he explained.” [Public News Service, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

Massachusetts

 

Vineyard Wind 1 Just Became The US’s Largest Operating Offshore Wind Farm — “Five more wind turbines just came online at Vineyard Wind 1, making it the largest operating offshore wind farm in the US. Vineyard Wind 1 expands Sustainable energy company Avangrid and green investors Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners today announced that the Vineyard Wind 1 project is now delivering more than 136 megawatts (MW) to the electric grid in Massachusetts. (New York’s South Fork Wind, the US’s first complete utility-scale offshore wind farm, is 132 MW.) In February 2024, Vineyard Wind delivered approximately 68 MW from five turbines to the grid. Vineyard Wind 1 now has 10 turbines in operation, enough to power 64,000 homes and businesses. Each GE Haliade-X 13 MW turbine has a 220-meter (722-foot) rotor, 107-meter (351-foot) blades, and is 248 meters (814 feet) tall – roughly 2.7 times taller than the Statue of Liberty. Each is capable of providing power to more than 6,000 homes and businesses.” [Electrek, 6/25/24 (+)]

 

Vineyard Wind Reaches Milestone As Largest Operating US Offshore Wind Farm — “The Vineyard Wind 1 project passed a key milestone today becoming the largest operating offshore wind farm in the United States. Being developed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, project developers Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners celebrated reaching 136 MW on their way to a total capacity of 806 MW. With 10 of the planned 62 wind turbines now in operation, Vineyard Wind 1 is now delivering more than 136 MW to the electric grid in Massachusetts. It surpasses Ørsted’s South Fork which was completed earlier this year and has a capacity for 132 MW from 12 turbines. These two projects were the first large-scale offshore wind farms to begin construction in the United States, although they will ultimately be surpassed by others including Dominion Energy’s project off the coast of Virginia which started construction in April 2024.” [Maritime Executive, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

New No. 1 For Offshore Wind — “The Vineyard Wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts is now the United States’ largest operating offshore wind farm, developers Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners announced on Tuesday. The project now has 10 turbines online generating 136 megawatts of power, just edging out New York’s South Fork Wind, which produces 132 megawatts. The developers said Vineyard Wind has installed 21 turbines and 47 foundations — when complete, it is set to have 62 turbines delivering 806 megawatts to the Massachusetts grid.” [Politico, 6/26/24 (=)]

 

Nevada

 

BLM’s Nevada Oil Sale Goes Bust — “The Biden administration held an oil sale in Nevada on Tuesday. No one showed up. The Bureau of Land Management offered 2,080 acres in southeast Nevada for auction, the first sale in the Silver State this year. But the auction attracted zero bidders. It wasn’t the first time an oil sale on Nevada’s federal land failed to entice oil and gas speculators. A large sale during the Trump administration’s ‘energy dominance’ era in 2018 also closed with no participants. Tuesday’s sale is one of several the Biden administration is quietly holding this summer. A New Mexico oil lease sale earlier this month brought in $34.4 million. A Wyoming auction is scheduled for Thursday. The White House has scaled back the nation’s oil and gas leasing program since President Joe Biden took office and promised to rein in federal drilling in an effort to combat climate change. But his failure to slow drilling has sparked criticism from environmentalists.” [E&E News, 6/26/24 (=)]

 

New York

 

Construction And Operations Plan For Sunrise Wind Project Approved — “The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced on Friday, June 21 its approval of Sunrise Wind’s plan for construction and operations. This is the project’s final approval from BOEM, following the Department of the Interior’s March 2024 Record of Decision. ‘BOEM’s approval of the Sunrise Wind project represents another step in building a thriving offshore wind energy industry,’ said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein in a press release. ‘The Biden-Harris administration continues to demonstrate its commitment to advancing responsible projects like Sunrise Wind as part of our strategy to foster good paying jobs for local communities, ignite economic development, and fight the harmful effects of climate change.’ The Sunrise Wind project—located south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and east of Block Island, Rhode Island—will have a total capacity of 924 megawatts of clean, renewable energy that could power more than 320,000 homes annually. The project will support more than 800 direct jobs each year during construction and about 300 jobs annually during operations, according to officials.” [Whats Up Newp, 6/24/24 (=)]

 

New York Offshore Sunrise Wind Project Cleared For Construction — “The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has approved the construction and operations plan for the Sunrise Wind project, a proposed 924-MW offshore wind facility that will deliver energy to New York once completed, BOEM announced Friday. This approval was the final decision needed for the project to begin offshore construction. Sunrise Wind is being developed by Ørsted and Eversource Energy, which expect it to start operation in 2026. ‘Sunrise Wind is a centerpiece of New York’s clean energy vision, and with this final federal approval we can officially put the construction phase in-motion,’ David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted, said in a release. ‘BOEM’s approval is an important milestone not just for New York but also for America’s domestic energy sector.’ The final project will include up to 84 turbines with the potential to power more than 320,000 homes per year, BOEM said. The project is south of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and east of Montauk, New York.” [Construction Dive, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

NYISO Reveals Bids In NYC Offshore Transmission Solicitation — “NYISO received four bids in response to its Public Policy Transmission Need solicitation to deliver up to 8 GW of offshore wind power to New York City.” [RTO Insider, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

West Virginia

 

Report: Mountain Valley Pipeline Testing Released Water Again — “The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) experienced another rupture this month in southwest Virginia during testing, days before it asked for and received permission to begin carrying natural gas. Equitrans Midstream, the pipeline’s builder, reported the incident to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water. The rupture happened during hydrostatic testing of the pipeline, where water is pumped through it at high pressure to demonstrate its integrity. Residents and community groups have been concerned about the project’s safety since a May 1 rupture released a large volume of water and badly damaged a section of the 42-inch main pipe. They also have expressed anger that Equitrans Midstream didn’t let them know when the pressure testing took place or about the unintentional releases of water, which in some cases caused property damage. A landowner in Bent Mountain, Virginia, reported the May 1 incident. The June 4 rupture involved an 8-inch connecting hose. According to a report Equitrans filed to Virginia’s DEQ, the release lasted for 15 minutes until a valve was closed, shutting it off. The June 4 rupture, at Elliston, Virginia, took place 10 days before the pipeline began operating.” [West Virginia Public Broadcasting, 6/25/24 (+)]

 

Mountain Valley Pipeline Released Water Again During Testing In Virginia — “The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) experienced another rupture this month in southwest Virginia during testing, days before it asked for and received permission to begin carrying natural gas. Equitrans Midstream, the pipeline’s builder, reported the incident to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water.” [WV News, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

 

 

How The Inflation Reduction Act Could Change The Future Of One Native American Reservation — “The Inflation Reduction Act includes more than $720 million for Tribal nations and native communities, as well as makes expanded clean energy tax credits available to tribes for the first time. For this installment in our series ‘Breaking Ground’ — where ‘Marketplace’ host Kai Ryssdal travels across the country to look at how federal dollars might change the economy in complicated, invisible, even contradictory ways — he travels to the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.” [Marketplace, 6/25/24 (+)]

 

Extreme Wildfires Doubled In Frequency, Magnitude Since 2003 — “Extreme wildfire events during the past two decades more than doubled in frequency and magnitude globally, with the six worst seasons occurring during the past seven years, a new study found. Why it matters: Intense wildfires — as measured by satellites — are more difficult to fight, emit vast quantities of greenhouse gases and noxious smoke, and can cause disastrous consequences for communities. Zoom in: The new study, published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, found that the biggest upward trends in extreme wildfires are in temperate conifer biomes, such as in the western U.S., along with the boreal forests that ring the Arctic region. The researchers, from the University of Tasmania in Hobart, note that previous studies focused on burned area and hadn’t investigated trends in extreme wildfires. These latter wildfires are characterized by high amounts of outgoing heat energy.” [Axios, 6/25/24 (=)]

 

 

 

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