Celebrating a Rare Win for the Environment from the Trump Administration
"The Bureau of Land Management has withdrawn more than 27,000 acres [in 20 parcels] near Rocky Mountain National Park from a June oil and gas lease sale, drawing concern from the industry but cheers from environmentalists fighting the Trump administration's emphasis on increased fossil fuel development," reports Scott Streater for E&E News.
Conservation groups praised the decision, saying it is a good sign that the Trump administration will not abandon policies that call for careful review of parcels nominated by the industry for lease.
At the same time, BLM approved offering "86 parcels at the lease sale covering more than 73,000 acres in nearby Jackson and Routt counties, as well as Rio Blanco and Moffat counties in the state's northwest corner, the agency said," adds Streater. However, it was the aforementioned parcels in Grand County that had drawn significant opposition:
Numerous groups, including the town of Hot Sulphur Springs, The Wilderness Society, WildEarth Guardians and a nearby dude ranch, had challenged the agency's proposal to offer the 20 parcels for lease in Grand County.
The parcels also had been opposed by the Grand County's Board of County Commissioners, which last fall submitted formal comments (pdf) to BLM expressing concern that "oil and gas development would have negative consequences on our local environment and economy."
Presumably it also helped that the land "is characterized as low or no potential for oil and gas development" according to the Grand County commissioners, although that didn't prevent Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, to express her displeasure with the ruling.
She said BLM "had carefully analyzed the areas in Grand County" during a completed land-use plan update "and determined they're suitable for leasing."
This may be a rare "win" for the environmental community during the Trump era when conservation is pitted against energy extraction. It may also be telling that the Trump official in charge is Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.
Topics
- Mapping the Tools of Discrimination
- Overcoming Density Opponents by Listening to Them
- San Diego, Marin County Heading the Opposite Direction on Housing Policy
- It's Too Hot to Fly in Phoenix Today
- Surveying the Suburban Office Market
- Google to Buy 300 Modular Apartments for Employees
- No Cars Allowed on Portland's New Street
- Urine Trouble: MARTA Station Elevators to Get Pee Alarms
- Brewing Can Ferment Growth in Towns and Neighborhoods in Need of a Lift
- America's 1970s Bike Boom
- April FHWA Report Shows Americans Continue to Drive More
- Controversy Over Proposed Zoning Changes for Philly's Delaware Waterfront
- An Expanding Vision for San Francisco's Treasure Island
- Prop. 13 Will Blunt the Property Tax Windfall as Boomers Transfer Property to Millennials
- Evidence of Softening Rental Markets
- Seattle Adds Bus Capacity to Accommodate Amazon Interns
- New Tallest Building West of the Mississippi Now Open
- Tri-Cities Emerging as a Solar Demonstration Hub for the Pacific Northwest
- Business Owners Vote to Fund Sacramento Streetcar Operations
- The New Apple Store in Chicago Looks a lot Like a Laptop
