The Trump administration’s unfinished business on public lands, water, and wildlife
DENVER—With one year remaining in the Trump administration’s first term, the Center for Western Priorities identified the remaining policy changes sought by the Interior Department based on plans outlined in federal websites and databases. A new Center for Western Priorities tracker, which will be updated throughout 2020, finds 74 policies Interior is seeking to implement, including efforts to expand fossil fuel development on public lands and further weaken protections for wildlife. The analysis also identified 17 proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service actions to remove or downgrade protections for plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act.
The clock is ticking on the Trump administration’s first term, and Interior Secretary Bernhardt knows it. Policy changes in the works show that the former oil lobbyist is doing everything in his power to expand drilling and mining while reducing protections for wildlife, said Center for Western Policies Director Jesse Prentice-Dunn. The question is, how many new policies will Secretary Bernhardt add to his destructive legacy in 2020?
The full list can be viewed and downloaded.
The tracker also highlights 10 of the most consequential policies Interior Secretary David Bernhardt hopes to implement in the remaining 12 months of the Trump administration’s first term. Some of these policies are in the process of being implemented while others have been identified for action by Interior Department agencies.
More information on the Trump administration’s past environmental rollbacks: