Latest news with #publiclands
E&E News
3 hours ago
- Business
- E&E News
Interior axes 18 rules tied to mining, geothermal energy
The Interior Department on Tuesday scrapped 18 federal rules tied to both geothermal energy and exploring for and digging up minerals on public lands including wilderness areas. The agency touted the move as an advancement of President Donald Trump's strategy to achieve 'energy independence,' calling the Bureau of Land Management regulations 'obsolete or redundant.' Scrapping the rules 'embodies our dedication to removing bureaucratic red tape that hinders American innovation and energy production,' Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. But conservation groups blasted the announcement, accusing the Trump administration of moving to dismantle important safeguards while ramping up calls for more domestic mining across public lands. Advertisement 'This is another attempt by the Trump administration to break down the crucial regulations that protect our environment,' said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. 'The normal process would be for rule rescission to go through a notice and public comment process. Instead this appears to be a unilateral move.'
E&E News
14 hours ago
- Business
- E&E News
Mike Lee seeks to reinstate public lands sales in megabill
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee wants to revive public lands sales axed last month from the Republican tax, energy and security spending megabill. POLITICO's E&E News asked the Utah Republican Monday whether he intended to bring back public lands provisions that were cut from the House package. Lee, who was on his way to a procedural vote on a Defense department nominee, responded, 'I gotta go vote, but yes.' Last month, following a protracted intraparty battle, House leaders stripped the sale or transfer of nearly half a million acres in Nevada and Utah from the 'one, big, beautiful bill.' Advertisement The bill is now awaiting action in the Senate, where senators will retool it and return it to the House. POLITICO reported Monday that Senate committees, including Environment and Public Works, plan to begin releasing text as early as this week. Lee has long railed against federal ownership of lands in Western states. He frequently points out that roughly two-thirds of land in Utah is federally owned. On Monday, he did not elaborate on the details of what he plans to reintroduce. Lee's plans could add a major hurdle into the upper chamber's race to pass their version of the bill to unlock President Donald Trump's domestic agenda by July 4. Public lands sales are caustic to some members of the Senate like Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who has vowed to never vote for the sale of public lands. Senate Republicans can only afford to lose three votes on the legislation, which is being passed via budget reconciliation — a parliamentary measure that allows them to skirt the Senate's 60-vote filibuster. The return of public lands sales would also reignite anger from Democrats and public lands advocates, who have long worried about Lee's intentions. 'If Sen. Lee tries to reinsert public lands selloff provisions in the Senate bill, it shows just how out of touch he is with what Western Americans and Americans across the country want,' said Michael Carroll, public lands campaign director at the Wilderness Society, in an interview. 'Congress stripped that provision out of the budget bill and now it looks like this provision's going to have to get taken out of the Senate bill if and when Sen. Lee decides to move forward.' Public lands sales first entered the House reconciliation bill through a committee amendment from Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) and Celeste Maloy (R-Utah). Amodei and Maloy argued the amendment was carefully tailored to address housing needs, but opponents warned it would set a precedent that public lands can be sold any time Congress needs to raise revenues. The language was stripped by House leadership just hours before the vote after a push from Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Trump's first Interior secretary. He had threatened to vote against the whole bill unless the provision was removed.
New York Times
16 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
He Built an Airstrip on Protected Land. Now He's in Line to Lead the Forest Service.
Michael Boren, founder of a billion-dollar tech company, Idaho ranch owner and Trump donor, has clashed with the U.S. Forest Service for years. He was accused of flying a helicopter dangerously close to a crew building a Forest Service trail, prompting officials to seek a restraining order. He got a caution from the Forest Service, and criticism from his neighbors, when he built a private airstrip on his Hell Roaring Ranch in a national recreation area. And in the fall, the Forest Service sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing a company that Mr. Boren controlled of building an unauthorized cabin on National Forest land. Now, Mr. Boren is Mr. Trump's nominee to oversee the very agency he has tussled with repeatedly. On Tuesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing on Mr. Boren's nomination to be the under secretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment, a role that would put him in charge of the Forest Service. If confirmed, he would manage an agency that oversees almost 200 million acres of public lands across the United States, including maintaining trails, coordinating wildfire response and overseeing the sale of timber and other resources. He would also oversee the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which helps farmers and ranchers conserve natural resources on their own land. Mr. Boren would be leading the Forest Service at a tumultuous time. In April, the secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins, issued an order removing environmental protections from almost 60 percent of national forests, or more than 112 million acres, mostly in the West. That came after Mr. Trump issued an executive order to increase logging on those lands by 25 percent. The Forest Service has also fired thousands of workers as part of Mr. Trump's drive to shrink the federal government. Hangar Land before Boren purchase. Grass airstrip starts to take shape Fenced-in airstrip Hell Roaring Ranch 2014 2016 2024 IDAHO 1,000 feet Hangar Land before Boren purchase Grass airstrip starts to take shape Fenced-in airstrip 2014 2016 2024 1,000 feet Hangar Land before Boren purchase Grass airstrip starts to take shape Fenced-in airstrip 2014 2016 2024 1,000 feet Hangar Land before Boren purchase Grass airstrip starts to take shape Fenced-in airstrip 2014 2016 2024 1,000 feet Hangar Land before Boren purchase Grass airstrip starts to take shape Fenced-in airstrip 2014 2016 2024 1,000 ft. Source: Airbus DS via Google By Mira Rojanasakul/The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
We can take meaningful action on climate or give handouts to billionaires, but not both
(Photo:) While Nevada's elected leaders have expressed a commitment to addressing the climate crisis, a new proposal under consideration raises questions about our state's priorities. The proposed expansion of Nevada's film tax credit program, which would direct hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies to Hollywood studios, risks sidelining urgent environmental and climate needs. At a time when bold action is needed to protect our communities and natural resources, this approach feels out of step. It's abundantly clear that Nevada is in a climate emergency. Wildfires are burning hotter and longer, filling our summers with smokey skies. Land managers warn this summer could bring catastrophic wildfires. The Great Basin is drying, and Lake Mead is sitting at thirty percent full. Communities from Las Vegas to Reno are enduring extreme heat, toxic air, and prolonged drought, and hundreds to thousands of Nevadans are dying each year as a result. We have proposed projects to protect our public lands, prevent extinction, and invest in sustainable transit, but we're told there's 'no money.' The proposal would allocate $95 million in annual transferable film tax credits for 15 years beginning in 2028, expanding our already-existing tax giveaways. The proposal will kick into place in 2028, and yet we have no way to know what our fiscal situation will be at that point in time. Just think of the roller coaster ride the 2020's have been so far, and the looming federal budget that could have sweeping impacts to Nevada's fiscal viability. Meanwhile, extreme heat is only getting worse, the Colorado River and Lake Mead are only getting drier, and our special places are only becoming more threatened. Our organization has spent years fighting for clean air protections, better public transportation, rooftop solar access, and the preservation of special landscapes like Red Rock National Conservation Area and Lake Tahoe. We're constantly met with budgetary constraints, told to be patient, to compromise. And yet the same state that balks at funding protections for pollinators and soil health is ready to roll out a red carpet for corporate film giants. Supporters of the film credit expansion claim it will bring jobs and economic growth, but as the independent economists at Applied Economics reported, the state would have a negative return on investment. States across the country have learned the hard way that film subsidies rarely pay off. Meanwhile, climate investments create durable jobs, foster resilience, and protect our future. Where are the investments for fighting wildfires, restoring wetlands, or public transportation? If Nevada has hundreds of millions of dollars to spend, let's spend it on the people and places that make this state worth living in, and ensure it will be livable in the next several decades, not on fleeting glitz and glamour. Let's fund the transition to a clean energy economy, build transit-to-trails networks, restore our watersheds, and protect the wild lands that make Nevada extraordinary. We have shelled out enough for corporations working against our interests. Why do we give tax handouts to the Boring Tunnel instead of funding mass transit? Why do water intensive data centers get huge tax breaks when we can't get funding for water conservation? Why did we give millions of dollars to build the A's stadium in the Las Vegas core when we can't get funding for urban forestry and mitigating urban heat? This proposed tax credit isn't just a bad policy. It's a missed opportunity to lead. Nevada should act in the best interests of those who live here, instead of enacting Hollywood handouts.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
Viral, raunchy ‘ParkTok' trend aims to raise awareness of spending cuts to national parks
The 10-second video begins with a close-up on the abs of a sweaty, shirtless man wearing low-slung, gray sweatpants. But three seconds in, it cuts to a panoramic video of Havasu Falls in Arizona, with its striking turquoise water cascading down from red rocks. Welcome to ParkTok. The video — from an unofficial account posting about Grand Canyon National Park and other nature sites in Arizona — is emblematic of a trend that's gone viral on TikTok in recent weeks that pairs sexually suggestive clips or music with scenic images and footage of America's natural wonders. Unofficial accounts representing state and national parks, mountains and rivers have participated in the trend, sometimes trading playful barbs about which has the 'biggest trees' or 'longest lakes.' The videos are funny and moderately unhinged in the way TikTok trends often are, but they have a serious aim: to raise awareness about threats to US public lands amid the Trump administration's efforts to gut national parks staffing and designate more of America's wild lands for drilling, mining and logging. Many of the videos encourage viewers to donate to organizations such as the National Park Foundation or to call their local representatives to advocate for protecting public lands, part of a long tradition of using social media to organize social and political movements. 'This does go way beyond the thirst traps,' Kim Tanner, who runs the unofficial Joshua Tree account @joshuatreenp with more than 250,000 followers, told CNN. 'It's a way to pull people in, it's a way to hook them, and it works. But at the same time, you're showing them that beautiful imagery (of the parks) and hopefully, even if subliminally, you're educating them.' ParkTok emerged last fall, long before their videos started with sexy teasers and ahead of President Donald Trump's second term. At the time, many of the account holders just wanted to promote the beauty of their local parks, like Phoebe, a nature enthusiast who started the unofficial Multnomah Falls account @multnomah_falls to share her love of Oregon's Columbia River Gorge. Phoebe asked CNN not to use her last name to avoid being identified by her employer. Then in February, the Trump administration fired thousands of National Park Service and Department of Interior workers as part of widespread government workforce reductions, prompting national parks and monuments to announce closures, pause reservations and limit hours. In his first three months in office, Trump also signed orders to increase mining and oil and gas drilling in Alaska, expand logging in federally protected national forests and roll back rules that pushed car makers toward cleaner forms of energy — all of which have drawn concern from environmental groups. As the potential impact of Trump's environmental policies started to sink in, several ParkTok accounts joined a group chat on TikTok. 'We started thinking we could probably do some good with this instead of just sharing our hiking videos,' Phoebe said. The group decided to start 'doing coordinated, themed posts, in between our silly posts and our nature posts, about the threats of logging and the threats of our public lands being sold and all of these things that have been introduced by the federal government,' she said. The National Park Service and the National Park Foundation did not respond to requests for comment. Some ParkTok videos have racked up hundreds of thousands of views, including one Phoebe posted earlier this month showing videos of Multnomah Falls set to the explicit song 'Fat Juicy & Wet.' They're not all sexually suggestive. One video, posted by an unofficial Bryce Canyon National Park account, shows a scenic image of nature with a voiceover saying, 'show me the reason you have no money,' and then it cuts to an image of the White House. It's been viewed more than 1 million times. Canadian parks such as Banff National Park have also gotten in on the action to advocate for their American neighbors. Both Tanner and Phoebe said their ParkTok accounts are just hobbies aimed at raising awareness for places they love. They both have full-time jobs and aren't making money from the accounts, although they said they would donate any future earnings from TikTok's creator fund to the causes they're promoting. And Tanner said she thinks ParkTok can help bridge the divide between people from different political parties because 'one thing that does bring a lot of people together is the national parks and national forests.' 'If you see these beautiful images and these beautiful photos,' she said, 'you start to fall in love with these places, you start to get attached to them, then your natural instinct is going to be to want to protect it.'
