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Candidates across party lines are running on protecting public lands
It’s Election Day, and public lands have played a major role in candidates’ campaigns over the last several months. Last year’s failed attempt by Utah Senator Mike Lee to sell off as many as 3.2 million acres of public land has shaped the platforms of candidates in both parties. In Colorado, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper’s […]
Read MoreTrump appointee has illegal cabin in Idaho national forest
A cabin the U.S. Forest Service ordered removed from Idaho’s Sawtooth National Recreation Area in 2024 is still standing, and the man whose company was told to take it down, Michael Boren, now oversees the agency as U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for natural resources and environment, according to High Country News and Public Domain. […]
Read MoreLawmakers demand Burgum halt data center push on public lands
Senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, and Alex Padilla are demanding that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stop attempting to put data centers on public lands, citing a lack of transparency around his meetings with data center developers and investors. Burgum met with dozens of technology and energy executives last year, including Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, according […]
Read MoreIs the Trump administration illegally authorizing data centers on public land?
The Trump administration is attempting to authorize data centers on public lands before anyone has determined whether federal law allows it. In a new Westwise blog post, CWP Communications Director Kate Groetzinger explains that data centers aren’t on the list of uses the Federal Land Policy and Management Act authorizes through rights-of-way, so BLM would have […]
Read MorePodesta says permitting bill would shield illegal approvals on public lands
Former Biden climate adviser John Podesta says the Senate’s bipartisan permitting bill would let President Donald Trump approve projects on public lands that courts could not reverse, even if the approvals break the law. Podesta made the remarks Friday at a University of Colorado Boulder symposium, according to a recording obtained by Heatmap. He applauded the […]
Read MoreTrump plans to roll back methane regulations for all oil and gas wells in the U.S.
Weaker rules for new wells would lock in years of increased methane pollution if Senate permitting bill passes DENVER—President Donald Trump will roll out plans today to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 methane standards for oil and gas operations, according to reporting in The Hill and Bloomberg. The proposal would scrap the Super Emitter […]
Read MoreIs the Trump administration illegally authorizing data centers on public land?
The BLM is using a shortcut that could come back to bite the AI industry In June, the Bureau of Land Management approved the first AI data center on America’s public lands. It didn’t write a new rule, hold a public comment period, or prepare a new environmental review. It amended a right-of-way BLM granted […]
Read MoreLoggers say Roadless Rule repeal won’t solve their biggest challenges
The Trump administration claims that repealing the Roadless Rule will bring timber jobs back to struggling small towns, but loggers and mill owners in Oregon say the policy won’t fix the industry’s biggest problems. Oregon timber industry workers say diesel prices, the rising cost of equipment and parts, and a shortage of workers are bigger […]
Read MoreTribal groups break with Heinrich over permitting bill
Tribal leaders are campaigning against the Senate permitting bill after a tense meeting with Senator Martin Heinrich, one of the bill’s sponsors and a longtime ally of Tribal nations. The All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG) opposes the bill’s overhaul of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires federal agencies to consider […]
Read MoreFrom lead paint to DNA tests: surprising discoveries from America’s national parks
In this episode, Kate and Aaron talk to Robert Lull, author of the book Our Natural Lab: Remarkable Stories of Science from America’s National Parks, about the amazing discoveries that have come out of science that took place in our national parks. Kate and Aaron also talk about the negative impacts the Senate permitting bill, […]
Read MoreDOJ moves to kill offshore wind permits as Congress weighs permitting bill
The Justice Department asked federal judges this week to revoke Interior’s approvals for three offshore wind farms, including Revolution Wind, which has been delivering power to New England’s grid since March. The DOJ also targeted the 2.2-gigawatt Maryland Offshore Wind and 2.6-gigawatt New England Wind projects. The requests land weeks before a Senate vote on […]
Read MoreSenate permitting bill would cut the public out of public lands and lock in Trump-era data center, nuclear, and fossil fuel approvals
Bill would give Interior Secretary Doug Burgum a two-year window to approve projects a future president could not undo DENVER — A bipartisan permitting bill headed for a Senate vote right after the election would give President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum two years to approve data centers, nuclear facilities, and fossil fuel […]
Read MoreThe Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands
A bipartisan permitting bill headed for a Senate vote right after the election would give President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum two years to approve data centers, nuclear facilities, and fossil fuel projects on public lands, then make those approvals nearly impossible to undo. While the bill would help speed the country’s grid […]
Read MoreThe Senate permitting bill: Not just terrible for data centers
The bill would also sideline Tribes, lock in offshore drilling, and let an administration bankroll its favorite companies The Senate’s bipartisan permitting bill would give President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum two years to approve data centers, nuclear reactors, and nuclear waste storage on public lands, then make those approvals nearly impossible for a […]
Read MoreThe Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands. It only gets worse from there
A startup wants 456 nuclear reactors, a fuel plant, and nuclear waste storage on 9,000 acres of public land. The Senate permitting bill would make sure the next president can’t touch it On a stretch of national public land in Utah, a startup wants to build a massive data center powered by hundreds of small […]
Read MoreChiricahua becomes America’s 64th national park
President Trump signed legislation Tuesday making Chiricahua America’s 64th national park, the first new national park in six years. Nicknamed the “Wonderland of Rocks,” Chiricahua is known for its balanced boulders, rhyolite pinnacles, and other rock formations. It’s one of several sky islands in southeastern Arizona, which are isolated mountain ranges that rise up out […]
Read MoreNew map tracks data center applications moving through BLM’s pipeline
BLM is currently considering at least 35 applications for data centers and related infrastructure on public lands in six Western states, covering more than 24,000 acres DENVER — The Bureau of Land Management appears to be considering at least 17 applications to build data center campuses on public land in the West, according to a […]
Read MoreTrump aide attempts to dodge blame for DC golf course tree cutting spree
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s deputy chief of staff, Gregory Wischer, told a federal judge Monday that the felling of more than 500 trees at Washington’s East Potomac Golf Links over Columbus Day weekend was not part of President Donald Trump’s plan to renovate the course. Wischer, a political appointee who oversees many of Trump’s D.C. “beautification” […]
Read MoreThe Trump administration is trying to build data centers on public lands
As opposition to AI data centers mounts across the country, the Trump administration is moving full speed ahead to approve and construct them on America’s public lands, writes Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Lauren Bogard in a new Westwise post. The Bureau of Land Management is considering at least 35 active data center-related applications […]
Read MoreThe Trump administration is trying to build data centers on public lands
As opposition to AI data centers mounts across the country, the Trump administration is moving full speed ahead to approve and construct them on America’s public lands. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is a vocal proponent of building data centers on public lands, while dismissing concerns around the associated impacts on water supplies and energy costs. […]
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