1 00:00:02,280 --> 00:00:05,550 Welcome to the Landscape, your show about America's public lands, 2 00:00:05,550 --> 00:00:08,870 and the folks working hard to protect them. I'm Aaron Weiss, 3 00:00:08,870 --> 00:00:12,190 deputy director at the Center for Western Priorities coming to you this week 4 00:00:12,420 --> 00:00:16,550 from our nation's capitol, Washington, dc uh, 5 00:00:16,550 --> 00:00:21,110 getting ready to fly home to Denver just in time for some nice below zero 6 00:00:21,110 --> 00:00:21,943 temperatures. 7 00:00:22,610 --> 00:00:23,870 And I'm Kate g Retinger, 8 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,990 CW P'S Communications Manager recording today from Austin, 9 00:00:26,990 --> 00:00:31,590 Texas where it's about to freeze. And the last time that happened, uh, 10 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,870 it didn't go well here, so everyone's a little on edge , 11 00:00:34,870 --> 00:00:38,870 but it'll probably be fine . So we've got our, um, 12 00:00:39,210 --> 00:00:43,350 CWP director, Jen Roula, and our director of campaigns and special projects, 13 00:00:43,350 --> 00:00:44,270 Lauren Bogard, 14 00:00:44,270 --> 00:00:48,910 both here today to recap the year of 2022 in public 15 00:00:48,910 --> 00:00:51,830 lands. Um, so welcome back to the, well, yeah, 16 00:00:51,830 --> 00:00:54,310 welcome back to the podcast you've both been on here before . 17 00:00:54,820 --> 00:00:56,390 Thanks. Happy to join y'all. 18 00:00:56,660 --> 00:00:58,390 Thanks, Kate. It's great to be here. 19 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,750 So we're not gonna waste any time. This is, uh, yeah, 20 00:01:01,750 --> 00:01:06,470 the proverbial year ender as they call 'em. And we're just gonna run through, 21 00:01:06,470 --> 00:01:10,870 because as we are putting this together, I'm like, wow, that happened this year. 22 00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:11,670 Uh, 23 00:01:11,670 --> 00:01:16,670 it has been quite a year as far as public lands and the interior department 24 00:01:16,670 --> 00:01:18,630 and parks and national monuments go. 25 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,270 So let's just start at the very beginning, 26 00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:27,070 A very good place to start, uh, with an offshore lease sale, uh, 27 00:01:27,070 --> 00:01:30,350 that got invalidated tossed out by a judge. 28 00:01:30,540 --> 00:01:34,990 This was the lease sale that had happened the previous November and 29 00:01:35,190 --> 00:01:39,630 Earth Justice and four other green groups went to court saying that the interior 30 00:01:39,630 --> 00:01:43,630 department was relying on a years old NPA analysis, 31 00:01:43,630 --> 00:01:48,390 an environmental review that didn't accurately consider greenhouse gas emissions 32 00:01:48,390 --> 00:01:52,670 that would result from the ultimate development of those lease sales. 33 00:01:52,670 --> 00:01:55,950 And the judge agreed and tossed out that lease sale. 34 00:01:56,490 --> 00:02:00,390 And it was the year starting with a reminder that all of the 35 00:02:01,330 --> 00:02:05,870 insufficient environmental reviews that happened during the 36 00:02:06,830 --> 00:02:10,310 Zike and Bernhardt years under the Trump administration, uh, 37 00:02:10,820 --> 00:02:15,630 were not gonna hold up and fast forward all the way to this 38 00:02:15,630 --> 00:02:19,150 summer when the Inflation reduction Act passed. Uh, 39 00:02:19,150 --> 00:02:23,550 and that finally reinstated this lease sale that had been tossed out. 40 00:02:23,550 --> 00:02:26,670 Had that not happened, that lease sale would in fact, 41 00:02:26,670 --> 00:02:31,150 have been invalidated today. And we will talk a whole lot more about the good, 42 00:02:31,150 --> 00:02:35,430 bad and the ugly from the ira. But that was really, I think, a, uh, 43 00:02:35,460 --> 00:02:39,630 a scene setter for, for what was succumb this year, uh, 44 00:02:39,630 --> 00:02:41,030 along with what happened next, Kate. 45 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:46,070 Uh, right. And those leases de did get restored by the ira, we should mention. 46 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,910 Um, unfortunately, yeah, so big win and then, uh, it was taken away. 47 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,430 Um, we'll get back to the ira. Um, 48 00:02:53,430 --> 00:02:57,350 continuing along with the things that the Trump administration did that have 49 00:02:57,350 --> 00:03:00,320 been overturned, rightfully so. Um, 50 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,880 we've got the boundary waters, uh, 51 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:07,760 copper mining leases that were canceled by the Biden administration, um, 52 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:12,720 after the Trump administration had unlawfully reinstated these leases. 53 00:03:13,170 --> 00:03:17,080 Um, now the boundary Waters canoe area is actually wilderness. It's a thousand, 54 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:17,640 sorry, 55 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:22,200 a million acre wilderness area within the Superior National Forest 56 00:03:22,330 --> 00:03:24,400 in the state of Minnesota. Um, 57 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,320 the leases would've allowed twin metals to build highly toxic and polluting 58 00:03:28,450 --> 00:03:32,840 sulfide or copper mines along the lakes and streams that flow directly into the 59 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,760 boundary waters. Um, and, you know, of course, 60 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,920 people were very upset about that. And basically, 61 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,960 after doing a scientific review, the US Forest Service, um, 62 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:47,520 decided to withhold the renewal of the expired leases. So, 63 00:03:47,770 --> 00:03:51,440 um, the Biden administration is currently considering whether, um, 64 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:56,240 to ban mining in the entire watershed of the boundary waters, um, which, uh, 65 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,120 of course we're we're for that. So we'll see how that plays out. 66 00:03:59,300 --> 00:03:59,920 And Jen, 67 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:04,760 I really think that was the first big environmental win of 68 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:06,880 the year, considering, uh, 69 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,480 that project had been in play for so long. 70 00:04:11,070 --> 00:04:12,320 Yeah, that's right, Erin. 71 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:17,120 I think that was a major victory for the conservation community 72 00:04:17,420 --> 00:04:19,040 and, uh, 73 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,560 just the importance of the boundary waters to, 74 00:04:23,250 --> 00:04:25,960 to Minnesota and the, just the, 75 00:04:26,100 --> 00:04:30,960 the pristine nature of that area just would've been devastated if that, 76 00:04:30,970 --> 00:04:35,200 if that had, uh, if that mining had been able to happen in that area. 77 00:04:36,550 --> 00:04:39,760 Moving on, still in January, what a busy month, 78 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:44,480 Stuart Rhodes got arrested. He was, of course, the founder of the Oath Keepers. 79 00:04:44,850 --> 00:04:49,680 He was charged with Seditious Conspiracy for his role in the failed coup from 80 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,600 January, 2021. So, uh, 81 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,040 11 months later this year in November, 82 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,040 he was finally convicted of those charges. Uh, 83 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,440 and that was a really big deal. The Oathkeepers involvement, uh, in public, 84 00:05:03,700 --> 00:05:06,720 anti-public land circles has been going on for years. 85 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,440 We've been tracking them in our extremism reports, going back to the, 86 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,680 the first Bundy standoff. They, 87 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:18,400 the oathkeepers weren't officially at Maier, but of course, 88 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:23,000 there's been a whole lot of overlap between followers of the Bundy family and 89 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:23,840 the Oath Keepers. 90 00:05:24,460 --> 00:05:29,240 And the arrest and subsequent conviction of Stuart Rhoads 91 00:05:29,460 --> 00:05:34,440 was really the, the first consequences that folks, uh, have, 92 00:05:35,050 --> 00:05:39,440 uh, finally suffered for, for those anti-government actions. 93 00:05:39,780 --> 00:05:42,760 And we said at the time, when January 6th happened, 94 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:47,680 that there was a straight line from the lack of consequence at Mallard in 95 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,960 2016 to what happened on January 6th. Uh, 96 00:05:51,980 --> 00:05:56,920 and it, it does feel like vindication, I think in some ways, uh, 97 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,280 that there is finally justice. And Stewart Rhodes, uh, 98 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:01,680 will be heading to prison for quite a while. 99 00:06:02,110 --> 00:06:06,880 Yeah, I think Aaron, we, we saw this early on with the, 100 00:06:06,940 --> 00:06:10,680 you know, the, the, this version of the Sage Brush Rebellion, 101 00:06:11,340 --> 00:06:16,040 and it was very satisfying to see the results of the Stewart Rhodes, 102 00:06:16,290 --> 00:06:17,280 uh, uh, 103 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:22,280 trial and vindication that we didn't see during the ma after the Mallor, 104 00:06:22,330 --> 00:06:23,280 uh, occupation. 105 00:06:24,540 --> 00:06:25,960 One last note, in January, 106 00:06:26,140 --> 00:06:30,800 the interior Department started holding listening sessions on the conservation 107 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:31,280 atlas. 108 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:36,160 And this is what's gonna track America's progress towards protecting 30% of 109 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:38,240 our lands and waters by the end of the decade. 110 00:06:38,490 --> 00:06:42,920 It was really encouraging to see the Interior Department holding those sessions, 111 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,360 doing that planning process. Unfortunately, 112 00:06:46,630 --> 00:06:48,680 here we are at the end of December, 113 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:53,160 and we still have not seen even a draft version of that atlas. 114 00:06:53,370 --> 00:06:57,960 So if there, uh, if there was both optimism and concern, uh, 115 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,200 with what was happening in January, uh, 116 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,000 you can put the lack of Ann Atlas now still, uh, 117 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,160 I think solidly into the concern column. 118 00:07:07,540 --> 00:07:12,480 All right, so we made it through January. We're moving into February. Um, 119 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:17,480 and we're still talking about things that the Biden administration undid 120 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:22,240 from the Trump administration. Um, this time it's Gray Wolf protections, um, 121 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,760 actually, I'm sorry, the Biden administration didn't do this. A, 122 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:29,200 a federal judge restored protections for gray wolfs across a lot of the 123 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:30,480 United States. Unfortunately, 124 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,080 that ruling did not apply to the Rocky Mountain States, um, 125 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,920 which it would include Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, um, 126 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,960 where we've seen just rampant killing of wolves, um, in the past year. 127 00:07:43,340 --> 00:07:45,640 And, um, of course, the, 128 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:50,120 the federal government is currently still reviewing whether or not to 129 00:07:50,230 --> 00:07:53,360 list the gray wolves as endangered, um, 130 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,560 which would help protect them in those states. Unfortunately, 131 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,680 it doesn't seem like that's happening fast enough. 132 00:07:58,810 --> 00:08:01,320 So we'll keep watching that in the new year. 133 00:08:01,940 --> 00:08:03,600 And then also in February, 134 00:08:03,810 --> 00:08:08,400 we had our first significant report from the Interior Department Inspector 135 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:10,840 General's office. Uh, 136 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,800 the IG was looking back at the tenure of Ryan Zike as interior 137 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,920 secretary, and found that Zike misused his position, 138 00:08:20,270 --> 00:08:24,760 violated his ethical obligations, didn't comply with his duty of candor, 139 00:08:25,060 --> 00:08:29,440 all of that very reminiscent of some of what got him drummed out of, 140 00:08:29,850 --> 00:08:31,080 uh, the military, 141 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:35,080 or at least saw his military career stall with the Navy Seals. 142 00:08:35,260 --> 00:08:38,680 And lo and behold, he carried those same sort of, uh, 143 00:08:39,350 --> 00:08:42,040 lack of ethics with him into office, 144 00:08:42,210 --> 00:08:47,080 as we had been saying all the time that he was in office. It was, I think, 145 00:08:47,410 --> 00:08:49,800 uh, somewhat of a relief, Jen, 146 00:08:49,810 --> 00:08:54,120 to see that report come out as confirmation that what we had been saying years 147 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,000 ago, uh, was in fact happening. 148 00:08:56,530 --> 00:09:00,840 Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's unfortunate that it took this long, uh, 149 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,710 and that there were really no, uh, 150 00:09:04,710 --> 00:09:09,470 significant consequences for, uh, now, uh, Congressman elect, 151 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:10,590 uh, Zike, 152 00:09:10,590 --> 00:09:15,470 who will be rejoining the Congress after being elected to the, 153 00:09:15,850 --> 00:09:20,430 the New Congressional district, uh, from Montana. But, you know, 154 00:09:20,710 --> 00:09:25,150 sometimes, uh, I guess justice resolves itself slowly, 155 00:09:25,150 --> 00:09:30,110 but it was vindication to see Zeke hel at least held accountable in this way. 156 00:09:30,300 --> 00:09:33,470 Yeah. And as we note, yep. Come January, 157 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:36,470 he will be sworn back into Congress, 158 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:41,470 so he returns exactly where he was before he became Interior Secretary. 159 00:09:41,850 --> 00:09:46,270 All right, let's move into March. Lauren, let's bring you in here. Uh, 160 00:09:46,270 --> 00:09:50,350 one of our first big conservation winds for the year, certainly in, 161 00:09:50,350 --> 00:09:55,350 if not in terms of acres, in terms of cultural significance. Uh, 162 00:09:55,350 --> 00:09:59,590 president Biden established a new national historic site in Colorado. 163 00:10:00,220 --> 00:10:02,550 That's right, Aaron. On March 18th, 164 00:10:02,570 --> 00:10:07,150 the president signed legislation to designate the Amache National 165 00:10:07,510 --> 00:10:09,230 Historic Site in Grenada, Colorado. 166 00:10:09,620 --> 00:10:12,630 It's the first time that he added to the National Park System. 167 00:10:12,630 --> 00:10:17,270 And what this designation will do is it'll help tell the history of Japanese 168 00:10:17,590 --> 00:10:20,430 American incarceration during World War ii. 169 00:10:21,020 --> 00:10:25,030 More than 10,000 people were incarcerated at a Mae from 170 00:10:25,710 --> 00:10:27,710 1942 to 1945, 171 00:10:28,450 --> 00:10:32,670 and actually the site house 7,000 people at its peak, 172 00:10:32,890 --> 00:10:37,270 two thirds of whom were United States citizens. So it's, uh, 173 00:10:37,270 --> 00:10:41,590 an important acknowledgement of that history, uh, that that site has, 174 00:10:41,590 --> 00:10:43,310 has been designated. 175 00:10:43,850 --> 00:10:48,470 One of my favorite stories from this year involves a rosebush 176 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,630 at ah, mache that had not bloomed. 177 00:10:51,630 --> 00:10:56,510 It had been dormant for 80 years. And this spring, 178 00:10:56,510 --> 00:10:59,070 shortly after that designation, 179 00:10:59,380 --> 00:11:03,150 that rosebush started blooming again. Uh, 180 00:11:03,150 --> 00:11:05,630 and it may have been a helping hand from the, 181 00:11:05,630 --> 00:11:09,350 the folks at Denver Botanic B Gardens who had taken clippings, which can, 182 00:11:09,350 --> 00:11:12,950 of course, uh, encourage growth, but really just a, a, 183 00:11:12,950 --> 00:11:16,910 a wonderfully remarkable and symbolic, uh, 184 00:11:17,570 --> 00:11:22,030 continuation of that story there, that this rose plant, uh, 185 00:11:22,030 --> 00:11:26,550 had survived there in really the middle of nowhere, uh, for 80 years, 186 00:11:26,610 --> 00:11:28,790 and then this year starts blooming again. 187 00:11:29,420 --> 00:11:32,190 I love that story too, Erin. I'm glad you brought that up. 188 00:11:32,190 --> 00:11:36,190 And it makes me think of in Washington DC and March and April when the cherry 189 00:11:36,190 --> 00:11:38,710 blossomed trees around the tidal basin in our blooming, 190 00:11:38,890 --> 00:11:41,910 and the initial trees were gifts from, uh, Japan. 191 00:11:41,910 --> 00:11:44,750 So kind of a cool full circle story there. 192 00:11:45,450 --> 00:11:49,470 And then, uh, one week later, secretary Holland headed to Texas. 193 00:11:50,370 --> 00:11:51,350 She sure did. 194 00:11:51,370 --> 00:11:56,080 She made a visit to El Paso's Kassner Range at the invitation 195 00:11:56,370 --> 00:11:59,560 of Congressional representative Veronica Escobar, 196 00:11:59,980 --> 00:12:04,800 and she met with local advocates and conservation groups who have been pushing 197 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,840 for, uh, the Kassner Range National Monument, 198 00:12:08,020 --> 00:12:11,880 and not just within the last several years, but for more than 50 years now. 199 00:12:12,180 --> 00:12:14,040 And for those who may not know, 200 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:18,680 this is the Casner range is a 7,000 acre area that was a former former 201 00:12:18,680 --> 00:12:23,200 Army missile range, and it connects to the Franklin Mountains State Park. 202 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:28,000 So it's an important connectivity corridor for wildlife. And if, 203 00:12:28,090 --> 00:12:31,640 uh, the unexploded ordinance that are there were cleaned and it was open to the 204 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:36,800 public, it would provide much needed access to public lands in a pretty, uh, 205 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:40,800 densely populated urban area where that isn't something that there's a, 206 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:44,400 an abundance of. And while the secretary was there in March, 207 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:46,680 when typically the golden poppies were blooming, 208 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:51,000 I understand it wasn't quite the, um, spectacular show in the past, 209 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,160 but she did still get to see some of those, uh, blanketing, 210 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:56,440 the hillside of gas range. 211 00:12:56,930 --> 00:13:01,200 Re really glad that that happened. And then Jen, also in March, 212 00:13:01,220 --> 00:13:05,880 the Biden administration resumed leasing for oil drilling here in the West. 213 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:07,320 Right. Well, 214 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:11,440 obviously oil and gas leasing reform has been a priority of the Biden 215 00:13:11,460 --> 00:13:16,200 administration, but it's, you know, this is a complicated process. 216 00:13:16,540 --> 00:13:20,720 And the, the Biden administration had, um, 217 00:13:21,770 --> 00:13:25,600 stopped oil and gas lease sales because a judge in Louisiana blocked the 218 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,760 administration from considering the harm caused by climate change, 219 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:30,760 also known as the social cost of carbon. 220 00:13:31,300 --> 00:13:36,120 But then following a favorable interim ruling in a lawsuit over 221 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:41,120 whether or not the government can use the true cost of carbon in 222 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:41,760 decision making, 223 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,840 the Biden administration announced that it was going to resume plans for onshore 224 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:48,640 and offshore oil and gas leasing. Um, 225 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,840 and I know we will continue to talk about oil and gas drilling on public lands, 226 00:13:53,050 --> 00:13:57,840 uh, throughout this episode, but, uh, it's, uh, it's a, 227 00:13:57,840 --> 00:13:59,920 it's, it's a tale of, um, 228 00:14:00,510 --> 00:14:04,200 many decisions through the courts and through the Biden administration as they 229 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,120 work to reform the broken, uh, oil and gas leasing process. 230 00:14:08,870 --> 00:14:09,360 Yeah. 231 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,840 Another one of these through lines that we really saw start to take shape in 232 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:17,480 March was a giant methane leak in Alaska that was at a, 233 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,680 a Conoco Phillips Drilling site, uh, 234 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,640 that it was first detected at the beginning of March, 235 00:14:24,060 --> 00:14:28,840 but the company didn't detect it for three whole days, which, 236 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,320 uh, was really a missed opportunity that would've stopped that methane leak. 237 00:14:32,690 --> 00:14:37,000 It was, in fact, just an error at the end of the day, a, uh, 238 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,040 a mistake during a drilling operation. 239 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:43,720 It put too much pressure on the well pad caused a massive ongoing 240 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:44,500 leak. 241 00:14:44,500 --> 00:14:48,960 And I think this is a wrong reminder that drilling in Alaska and the Arctic 242 00:14:49,170 --> 00:14:52,320 is very difficult and very expensive. 243 00:14:52,540 --> 00:14:57,160 And when things go wrong, they can go very wrong very quickly. 244 00:14:57,620 --> 00:15:00,440 And fast forward to just this week in December, 245 00:15:00,820 --> 00:15:05,560 and we see Conoco Phillips possibly looking for a way out 246 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:07,520 of the huge Willow Project in Alaska, 247 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:12,320 saying that if interior keeps shrinking the size of that project in order to 248 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:16,920 protect wildlife, then it won't be profitable. Well, that of course, 249 00:15:16,930 --> 00:15:20,160 is the problem when you're working in Alaska, isn't it? It is not. 250 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:25,000 The Permian in Texas and New Mexico where you can just haul your oil and gas 251 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,840 off for export really easily. You're up in the middle of nowhere, 252 00:15:28,900 --> 00:15:33,720 and it is very hard and very expensive to do that profitably. 253 00:15:34,050 --> 00:15:37,240 Uh, and as the more anyone talks about ex, you know, 254 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:41,880 exploiting the Arctic or getting a hold of America's natural 255 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:43,153 resources up there, 256 00:15:43,310 --> 00:15:46,880 just the e economics of it simply don't pencil out a lot of the time. 257 00:15:47,740 --> 00:15:52,250 No, no, they don't. And it's a very fragile environment, uh, and, 258 00:15:52,830 --> 00:15:53,330 you know, 259 00:15:53,330 --> 00:15:57,850 all the more reason that we need to accelerate the transition to clean energy. 260 00:15:58,290 --> 00:16:02,450 Right. Um, so moving into April, uh, the appear, 261 00:16:02,450 --> 00:16:06,890 the Interior Department announced the America the Beautiful Challenge Grants, 262 00:16:06,890 --> 00:16:08,810 Lauren, do you mind telling us a little bit about that? 263 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:10,130 Sure thing. 264 00:16:10,130 --> 00:16:15,090 So the administration announced 1 billion as part of 265 00:16:15,140 --> 00:16:17,490 in funding for the America, the Beautiful Challenge, 266 00:16:17,490 --> 00:16:22,490 which is intended to accelerate public-private partnerships to protect 267 00:16:22,490 --> 00:16:26,330 land, water, and wildlife across the country. So this, uh, 268 00:16:26,330 --> 00:16:31,090 there's an initial 440 million in grants for locally led ecosystem 269 00:16:31,330 --> 00:16:34,890 restoration projects that fund those fund, uh, 270 00:16:34,890 --> 00:16:38,370 funds will be managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. 271 00:16:38,790 --> 00:16:43,170 And the program is designed to make grants available to states, tribes, 272 00:16:43,650 --> 00:16:48,600 territories, non-governmental organizations, and others to apply for, 273 00:16:48,690 --> 00:16:53,200 uh, funding to carry out some of those critical conservation and restoration 274 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:54,033 projects. 275 00:16:54,500 --> 00:16:57,690 So, also in April, the Biden administration, um, 276 00:16:57,690 --> 00:17:02,410 put out a report that showed its on track to nearly double renewable energy 277 00:17:02,650 --> 00:17:05,370 capacity on public lands. By the end of 2023, 278 00:17:05,710 --> 00:17:09,610 the Interior Department submitted the report to Congress in April, um, 279 00:17:09,830 --> 00:17:13,850 and showed that it is on track to approve 48 wind, solar, 280 00:17:13,850 --> 00:17:18,210 and geothermal energy projects with the capacity to produce an estimated 281 00:17:18,210 --> 00:17:23,050 31,827 megawatts of energy, um, 282 00:17:23,050 --> 00:17:24,730 sorry, electricity, um, 283 00:17:24,730 --> 00:17:29,250 which is enough to power roughly 9.5 million homes. Um, 284 00:17:29,250 --> 00:17:33,730 and that is, would be by the end of fiscal year 2023, sorry, 2025. 285 00:17:34,180 --> 00:17:34,530 Um, 286 00:17:34,530 --> 00:17:38,290 that's like a huge amount of electricity coming from our public lands and just 287 00:17:38,290 --> 00:17:42,570 shows what a powerhouse they can be, um, in the energy transition. 288 00:17:42,830 --> 00:17:46,970 The report also estimated that the BLM will approve projects capable of 289 00:17:46,970 --> 00:17:50,720 producing 11,000 megawatts of electricity by the end of 2023, 290 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,720 which is doubling the amount, um, that is currently, uh, 291 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,320 operating on public lands. So, footnote to that, in December, 292 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:02,400 the BLM announced it's also working on a West wide solar plan, um, 293 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,960 which would essentially make it easier to develop solar energy projects on 294 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:10,320 public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, 295 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:11,153 and Utah. 296 00:18:11,820 --> 00:18:15,560 And I think if there's another footnote on that, it's that all of this, 297 00:18:15,580 --> 00:18:20,320 all of this solar and wind development that's gonna be happening on public lands 298 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:21,360 over the next two years, 299 00:18:21,940 --> 00:18:25,000 all of that goes through the desk of Laura Daniel Davis, 300 00:18:25,580 --> 00:18:28,040 the deputy PRI principal, 301 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,240 deputy Assistant Secretary for Landon Minerals, 302 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:35,160 who is awaiting confirmation for the full assistant secretary job. 303 00:18:35,740 --> 00:18:40,360 And Jen, we, uh, just learned this week that, uh, 304 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:44,120 Laura Daniel Davis is not going to end up getting confirmed before Congress 305 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:44,953 adjourns this year. 306 00:18:45,570 --> 00:18:48,360 No, unfortunately, uh, that the, 307 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:53,430 the time ran out for the Senate to take up Laura's, uh, 308 00:18:53,620 --> 00:18:57,510 nomination. Uh, she had gone through two committee hearings, 309 00:18:57,510 --> 00:18:58,510 which is unprecedented, 310 00:18:58,770 --> 00:19:03,430 and had been waiting for over 500 days after being nominated by the president 311 00:19:03,430 --> 00:19:08,150 to, to serve in that role. And unfortunately, uh, you know, 312 00:19:08,930 --> 00:19:12,960 Senator Schumer just ran outta time and wasn't able to take her nomination up 313 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:16,880 before the Senate adjourned, uh, this year. 314 00:19:17,060 --> 00:19:18,200 And so we will, 315 00:19:18,410 --> 00:19:23,080 we will see what happens in 2023 and whether Laura is renominated, 316 00:19:23,380 --> 00:19:24,560 and if so, 317 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,520 hopefully she will not have to go through another committee hearing and they 318 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:32,280 can, uh, expedite her nomination and, and get her confirmed because, 319 00:19:32,700 --> 00:19:33,240 you know, 320 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,680 the role that she would play is just way too important to the President's 321 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:38,600 climate agenda. 322 00:19:39,180 --> 00:19:43,120 Yep. Getting all of that electricity capacity online. Uh, 323 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:47,400 also a fairly remarkable moment in April, Jen, the president, uh, 324 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,200 really put oil and gas CEOs on notice regarding public lands. 325 00:19:52,350 --> 00:19:56,600 Yeah. Well, one of the biggest stories this year has been the price of gasoline, 326 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,920 as we all know. Uh, the price at the pump has been high. 327 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:04,840 And while Republicans blame the Biden administration for the high price of gas, 328 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:09,840 really the main reason was, uh, the Russia, Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 329 00:20:10,420 --> 00:20:15,280 And, you know, we've seen oil companies, uh, you know, 330 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:19,360 reaping record profits, and, you know, the president, you know, 331 00:20:19,590 --> 00:20:22,560 I think really stepped up and did an important, you know, 332 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,000 held an important press conference. 333 00:20:24,340 --> 00:20:28,320 Oil and oil and gas companies have been sitting on over 9,000 unused, 334 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:33,200 but approved permits to drill for oil and gas. And so it wasn't for a lack of, 335 00:20:33,540 --> 00:20:36,800 you know, oil and gas leases and permits. It, it, 336 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,120 it was really oil and gas companies, uh, not stepping up. 337 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:44,520 And so the president said, uh, you know, oil and gas companies, 338 00:20:44,970 --> 00:20:46,640 uh, should either use it or lose it. 339 00:20:46,780 --> 00:20:51,760 And he called on Congress to pass legislation that would find 340 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,880 companies for locking up public lands without producing oil on them. Um, 341 00:20:56,660 --> 00:21:01,280 and the president also in those, at the same time, uh, same time, 342 00:21:01,450 --> 00:21:01,800 uh, 343 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:06,520 announced that the US would release 1 million barrels of oil a day from the 344 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:11,160 strategic Pro P Petroleum Reserve. Um, so it was an important announcement, 345 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:16,040 and it was great to see the president putting these oil and gas CEOs 346 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:16,873 on notice. 347 00:21:18,020 --> 00:21:22,520 And then one other item from April the stop, 348 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,720 30 by 30 summit that happened in Lincoln, Nebraska, 349 00:21:27,310 --> 00:21:30,000 I flew out there for it because it was gonna be a, 350 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,640 a who's who of anti conservation folks. 351 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,600 You had folks like David Bernhardt, former interior Secretary, 352 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:40,680 Congresswoman Lauren Bobert, uh, 353 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:45,560 a whole bunch of really extreme folks aligned with people like the 354 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,040 Bundys all hanging out in one room, 355 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:52,320 trying to stop land protection efforts. 356 00:21:52,490 --> 00:21:57,400 We put out a report called the 30 by 30 Disinformation Brigade highlighting a 357 00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:58,520 bunch of these speakers. 358 00:21:59,140 --> 00:22:03,320 And I thought it was remarkable for as much preparation and attention that they 359 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:07,320 put into this summit, the number of names that they got there, 360 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:11,800 including Senator Kevin Kramer, after that summit in April. 361 00:22:11,850 --> 00:22:12,920 Nothing happened. 362 00:22:13,900 --> 00:22:18,360 And it seemed like they put all of their effort into this big launching pad, 363 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:21,240 and it absolutely fizzled afterwards. 364 00:22:21,820 --> 00:22:22,480 Now, it's, 365 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,640 it certainly didn't have the impact that I think they thought they were gonna 366 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,600 have. In fact, as we know, 367 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:33,520 they are on the wrong side of history when it comes to public lands. 368 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,520 And the support that we've seen in our polling, uh, 369 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,480 shows that they just don't get that, you know, voters, 370 00:22:41,330 --> 00:22:44,440 uh, want to see more conservation of public lands. And, 371 00:22:44,860 --> 00:22:48,880 and when you say disinformation, I think, you know, the, 372 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:53,120 the way that they twist, uh, the facts around, uh, 373 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:57,640 is just remarkable. But it was, I was surprised to see that they did not, uh, 374 00:22:57,710 --> 00:22:59,840 they really didn't do anything the rest of the year. 375 00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:04,360 All right. Let's jump into May with a couple quick hits here off the top. First, 376 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:07,400 the e p a killed the Pebble goldmine in Alaska. 377 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,000 We've done episodes on the mine, and I'll just say, 378 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,960 what a relief for the people of Bristol Bay. 379 00:23:14,210 --> 00:23:18,120 It appears now that the Pebble Mine Project is dead, dead. 380 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:22,240 And that is great news, uh, for both the people and the salmon there. 381 00:23:22,460 --> 00:23:24,120 And then also in Alaska, 382 00:23:24,460 --> 00:23:29,280 the interior Department canceled an offshore lease sale because of a lack 383 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,360 of interest. Like we just said, it is expensive and risky, 384 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:38,080 and oil companies just don't seem all that interested right now, uh, 385 00:23:38,090 --> 00:23:42,160 in undertaking big new oil and gas projects in Alaska. 386 00:23:42,620 --> 00:23:47,080 All right. Uh, and then we had a big, uh, Supreme Court ruling, Kate, regarding, 387 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:48,160 uh, social cost of carbon. 388 00:23:48,670 --> 00:23:50,160 Yeah. You know, actually the, 389 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:54,680 the Supreme Court just rejected an emergency request to block the Biden 390 00:23:54,820 --> 00:23:59,000 administration's use of the social cost of carbon. Um, which, you know, 391 00:23:59,030 --> 00:24:03,360 what the court we've got, uh, was surprising, you know, I mean, 392 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,720 they could have taken it up and they didn't. So that says a lot. Um, 393 00:24:06,940 --> 00:24:10,760 the social cost of carbon puts a dollar figure on the cost of releasing 394 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:15,160 emissions under the Biden administration. The value for carbon dioxide, um, 395 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,680 is set to about $51 per metric ton, um, 396 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:23,560 which is way up from the Trump administration's $1 per metric ton. Um, 397 00:24:24,420 --> 00:24:28,840 and a little, uh, update on that. The, uh, 398 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:33,800 US Appeals Court actually upheld the Biden social cost of carbon metric in 399 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:37,680 October. So that's a, that's great news. Um, of course, 400 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,520 we need to account for the emissions that we're releasing, um, 401 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,880 from federal projects. And, you know, this does apply to leasing. 402 00:24:44,190 --> 00:24:46,240 It's like somewhat, um, 403 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:50,360 vague on exactly how it affects leasing, 404 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:55,200 but it does allow the administration to take into account the emissions 405 00:24:55,270 --> 00:24:59,880 f that will be emitted by fuel drilled for on public 406 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,960 lands. So, Aaron, I don't know if you wanna say anything more about that. 407 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,320 It's a little complicated. 408 00:25:05,390 --> 00:25:06,320 It's complicated. 409 00:25:06,350 --> 00:25:10,920 I think the best summary there is one of the important tools in the toolkit as 410 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,960 far as oil and gas leasing goes in this new world after, 411 00:25:15,610 --> 00:25:18,920 uh, after the, the laws that were passed this year. 412 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:23,240 And we'll talk more about that in a moment. And then also in May, uh, 413 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:27,600 we saw some of our first money for cleaning up orphaned wells. Um, 414 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,160 it was a $33 million announcement, part of a, 415 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:35,920 a whole $250 million package through the bipartisan infrastructure 416 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:37,800 bill that passed in 2021. 417 00:25:38,420 --> 00:25:43,080 And $33 million is kind of a drop in the bucket as far as 418 00:25:43,190 --> 00:25:47,880 orphaned wells go. But it's an a, a start at the very least. 419 00:25:48,340 --> 00:25:52,400 But I think also a REMI reminder that oil and gas companies still today 420 00:25:52,790 --> 00:25:57,760 aren't paying what they have to in order to ensure that oil and gas wells get 421 00:25:57,760 --> 00:25:59,160 cleaned up if they go bankrupt. 422 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,280 Right, right. And that's actually on the, the blm, 423 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,440 the agency that is leasing the land, um, 424 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,880 they're not requiring these companies to put up sufficient bonds to reclaim 425 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:14,600 wells. So, um, we'll get to that again when we get to the ira. So. 426 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:16,480 another, another through line. 427 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:17,320 Yeah. . 428 00:26:18,260 --> 00:26:21,560 And then, uh, yeah, one more Inspector General report, uh, 429 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,960 interesting comparing and contrasting David Bernhardt and Ryan Zike. Uh, 430 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:30,200 this was in May n I g report that said David Bernhardt, 431 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:31,280 the Interior Secretary, 432 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:35,560 stonewalled an investigation into whether he violated the Lobbying Disclosure 433 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:37,200 Act. And this, I think, 434 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,560 gets to the fact that David Bernhardt was always a bit smarter than Ryan Zike in 435 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:46,200 covering his tracks and not being such a bombast. And at the end of the day, 436 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,080 the IG couldn't say one way or the other, 437 00:26:49,410 --> 00:26:54,280 whether David Bernhardt violated the law because they couldn't catch him, 438 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:57,680 and he wouldn't talk to them. So I think we can call that the, 439 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:02,360 the swamp pickiest of outcomes for the swamp pickiest of Cabinet secretaries, 440 00:27:02,460 --> 00:27:07,440 who we have not seen a whole lot from, other than a few op-eds, uh, 441 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:09,600 since he left the, uh, the secretary's office. 442 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:11,720 Right. And, you know, 443 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,560 this isn't really public lands news that it did also happen in May. Um, 444 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,800 we're gonna talk about it because it's interior department news. Uh, 445 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:20,880 government investigation found, um, 446 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:26,560 53 marked or unmarked burial sites at Native American Boarding schools. 447 00:27:26,900 --> 00:27:29,760 And, you know, this has been a big, um, effort by Deb Holland. 448 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:33,720 It's important to remember that in addition to public lands, she does have, um, 449 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:38,680 oversight over Native American affairs. So she's busy working on that. Um, 450 00:27:38,710 --> 00:27:43,320 they have done a lot of good work to actually document these unmarked burial 451 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:43,700 sites, 452 00:27:43,700 --> 00:27:48,040 and hopefully that will all result in some sort of reparations at some point. 453 00:27:49,660 --> 00:27:51,120 And I think a, a, 454 00:27:51,750 --> 00:27:56,120 a symbol of how important it is to have the first indigenous cabinet secretary 455 00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:58,760 mm-hmm. in American history to make that a priority, 456 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:03,120 to be talking about these things that we have not really talked about 457 00:28:03,690 --> 00:28:06,400 in the last hundred years. 458 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:09,840 Right, right, right. Native American, uh, 459 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:12,200 communities have been talking about them, but, um, 460 00:28:12,710 --> 00:28:15,280 n it never was elevated it or outside that it took, 461 00:28:15,330 --> 00:28:18,000 it took Deb Holland to elevate it to a federal level. Yes. 462 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:19,000 Which is great to see. 463 00:28:19,730 --> 00:28:24,240 It. It really is. Let's jump into June. All right. Well, yeah. 464 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:28,360 So the first lease sale under the Biden administration happened, uh, 465 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:33,320 initially they were going to lease off 570,000 acres in 466 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:37,960 Wyoming that got slashed to about 120,000. Now, 467 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:38,793 it's interesting, 468 00:28:39,010 --> 00:28:41,880 as much as the oil and gas industry yelled and shouted and said, 469 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:44,640 what are you doing cutting a lease sale by 80%, 470 00:28:45,190 --> 00:28:50,080 they only ended up buying about half of what was then offered. 471 00:28:50,490 --> 00:28:54,120 So a tiny, tiny fraction of what they said they were interested in, 472 00:28:54,270 --> 00:28:58,080 they only ended up buying. So even at these smaller numbers, 473 00:28:58,730 --> 00:29:03,640 it seems like the oil industry just isn't interested in padding their books 474 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,240 that way. And that was, should be noted, 475 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:10,880 the final oil and gas lease sale under the Mineral Leasing Act before the act 476 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,880 was reformed by the Inflation Reduction Act in just a couple months later. 477 00:29:15,580 --> 00:29:19,640 And then Jen, the big Supreme Court ruling of the year, 478 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,960 and certainly not a good one, West Virginia versus e P a. 479 00:29:23,990 --> 00:29:26,000 That's right. Well, as we all know, 480 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:30,600 the Supreme Court saves some of the most consequential, uh, 481 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:35,680 cases or decisions for the end. Uh, and this one, uh, 482 00:29:35,740 --> 00:29:38,640 was definitely consequential, uh, 483 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:43,080 the SE Supreme Court delta major below to, to climate change regulations, uh, 484 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:47,600 in West Virginia versus epa. It was a six to three, six to three decision. 485 00:29:48,090 --> 00:29:52,960 Um, and they ruled that the Clean Air Act does not authorize the EPA to regulate 486 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:54,680 carbon emissions. Uh, this, 487 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:59,600 the decision sets a precedent for further limitations on the environmental 488 00:29:59,710 --> 00:30:02,160 regulatory power of federal agencies, 489 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,720 which means that unless Congress, uh, 490 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:10,280 specifically authorizes the agency to 491 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,360 regulate to, to, to issue these regulations, they, 492 00:30:14,470 --> 00:30:18,720 they are not able to do it. And I think, uh, you know, 493 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:23,320 justice Kagan, um, in her dissent said it well, uh, 494 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:27,940 that the court strips the EPA a of the power of power, ah, 495 00:30:27,940 --> 00:30:29,860 excuse me, the court strips, 496 00:30:29,860 --> 00:30:33,860 the EPA A of the Power Congress gave it to respond to the most pressing 497 00:30:33,860 --> 00:30:35,580 environmental challenge of our time. 498 00:30:35,870 --> 00:30:40,340 It deprives EPA of the power needed and the power granted to curb the 499 00:30:40,900 --> 00:30:42,260 emission of greenhouse gases. 500 00:30:42,830 --> 00:30:47,500 Um, also in June, the Bears Ears Commission was reestablished. Um, 501 00:30:47,500 --> 00:30:51,260 of course, that followed the, the restoration of the monuments, which occurred, 502 00:30:51,270 --> 00:30:53,620 um, in 2021. Um, 503 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:56,980 I'm not exactly sure why it took so long to reestablish the commission, 504 00:30:56,980 --> 00:31:00,660 but I'm glad they did. Um, the commission, um, 505 00:31:00,660 --> 00:31:05,540 is actually different than the, um, intertribal Coalition, 506 00:31:05,620 --> 00:31:10,420 which you probably have heard of. They're the advocacy group made up of the, 507 00:31:10,710 --> 00:31:14,420 um, five tribes involved in the monument. The commission is, 508 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:18,700 was established under the, the original Monument Proclamation, um, 509 00:31:18,860 --> 00:31:23,820 under the ABO Obama administration. And the commission essentially is a, 510 00:31:24,230 --> 00:31:24,580 um, 511 00:31:24,580 --> 00:31:29,380 group of tribal representatives from each of the five tribes 512 00:31:29,380 --> 00:31:34,100 who will play a part in deciding how the Manu Monument is managed. 513 00:31:34,100 --> 00:31:38,380 Um, so they are a advisory commission to the B L M, which is the, 514 00:31:38,470 --> 00:31:40,100 or I guess the B L M and the Forest Service, 515 00:31:40,100 --> 00:31:42,700 which are the two agencies that manage Bears Ears. 516 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,340 And then also in June, Lauren, 517 00:31:46,340 --> 00:31:49,740 we saw the effects of climate change hitting our national parks. 518 00:31:51,090 --> 00:31:53,560 We did in a really big way, Erin, 519 00:31:53,590 --> 00:31:58,080 it's at times it feels hyperbolic to talk about some of these, 520 00:31:58,080 --> 00:31:59,920 what we might call climate disasters. 521 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:04,720 But anyone who saw the photos of Yellowstone National Park from last summer in 522 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,720 the historic flooding, they were just astonishing. 523 00:32:07,930 --> 00:32:12,600 It was as if you could watch the road melt away into rivers, um, 524 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:18,000 structures just fall off the banks into these roaring rivers. 525 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:22,560 I mean, the damage was significant, and it wasn't just to the park itself, 526 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:27,520 but to the surrounding communities that rely on some of that tourist income. 527 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:28,760 And this, of course, is in June, 528 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,160 one of the busiest seasons of the year in Yellowstone. 529 00:32:32,700 --> 00:32:37,520 But there's kind of a positive thing in that, um, 530 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:38,760 given that. 531 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,240 The flooding destroyed homes, roads, bridges, 532 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,440 and caused the evacuation of 10,000 visitors, 533 00:32:45,500 --> 00:32:50,120 the park was actually able to partially reopen within a few weeks. So, 534 00:32:50,210 --> 00:32:50,560 uh, 535 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:55,080 there was a chance to recover some of that lost revenue and some of those towns, 536 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:59,640 although full recovery of some of that infrastructure is still gonna take years. 537 00:32:59,940 --> 00:33:03,720 All right. Let's move on into July. And Jen, I, 538 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:07,320 I know we've done a full episode on our winning the West polling, but I think, 539 00:33:07,690 --> 00:33:10,200 uh, after the November election, 540 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:14,760 it is worth reiterating what we found then and how it stayed relevant through 541 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:15,490 the year. 542 00:33:15,490 --> 00:33:19,040 Oh, absolutely. And as our listeners know that, uh, 543 00:33:19,300 --> 00:33:23,560 CWP runs a winning the West Campaign every election, uh, 544 00:33:24,010 --> 00:33:24,843 uh, cycle. 545 00:33:24,980 --> 00:33:29,040 And this year we focused on four battleground states, 546 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:33,960 including Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. And, uh, 547 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,760 you know, what we found is the outdoors, uh, and outdoors issues, 548 00:33:37,860 --> 00:33:41,960 the conservation issues are incredibly important to voters in these states and 549 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,040 throughout the west. And, you know, 550 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:47,720 we saw that 90% of voters in our polling said that public lands, 551 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:50,320 parks and wildlife were important to them, 552 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:55,080 and 81% said that these issues would play an in influential role role in how 553 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,320 they voted in November. I know once we get down to November, 554 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:00,760 we'll talk more about the midterm elections, 555 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:05,600 but I think we definitely saw conservation play an important role in many 556 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:06,840 elections throughout the West. 557 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:09,240 Let's just keep on going. 558 00:34:09,500 --> 00:34:13,960 And the first indication that we were gonna get 559 00:34:14,270 --> 00:34:16,520 some big bill on conservation, 560 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:21,080 what ended up becoming the Inflation Reduction Act, uh, we had the, 561 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:24,480 the first word that there was a deal between Manchin and Schumer. 562 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:25,520 And I think at the end of the day, 563 00:34:25,820 --> 00:34:29,400 you have to chalk this up to some pretty masterful politics, 564 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:34,160 especially by Chuck Schumer. It looked like a deal was dead, 565 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:38,120 dead. There was no way, no how going to, 566 00:34:38,250 --> 00:34:39,880 to get build back better done. 567 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:44,800 And it ended up not being called build back better, but in the end, 568 00:34:45,030 --> 00:34:49,240 a a a bunch of the big important pieces were there. And, 569 00:34:49,730 --> 00:34:54,480 uh, thanks to some very quiet ongoing conversations, uh, 570 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:57,880 it happened. And when you look back at this year, 571 00:34:58,180 --> 00:35:02,120 the fact that that bill got done really is, uh, 572 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:06,520 one of the most remarkable political moments. Certainly, uh, 573 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:08,440 I think of this decade once we look back at. 574 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:09,960 It. No, I think it, 575 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,960 it's the most consequential climate legislation to pass Congress 576 00:35:14,650 --> 00:35:18,080 in. I mean, I think ever. And, uh, 577 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:22,360 certainly the Biden administration and, uh, you know, 578 00:35:22,470 --> 00:35:27,350 allies in Congress, uh, th this is a huge accomplishment. 579 00:35:28,060 --> 00:35:29,190 Also, in July, 580 00:35:29,190 --> 00:35:33,350 the Biden administration released an environmental review on the Willow Project, 581 00:35:33,350 --> 00:35:35,150 which is that giant, uh, 582 00:35:35,150 --> 00:35:39,520 drilling proposal from Koco Phillips that we mentioned earlier. Um, 583 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:41,920 and that was a really big bummer because, you know, 584 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,920 the Biden administration could, could kill the project, 585 00:35:45,020 --> 00:35:48,920 but they decided to continue going forward with it. Um, 586 00:35:48,940 --> 00:35:52,960 and that is still where we're at, um, coming to the close of 2022. 587 00:35:53,370 --> 00:35:56,800 We don't know if the Biden administration's going to approve Willow or not. 588 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:58,160 If they do, um, 589 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:02,680 it would produce over a hundred thousand barrels of oil daily for decades to 590 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:02,930 come, 591 00:36:02,930 --> 00:36:07,840 pumping up to 287 million metric tons of carbon into the 592 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:09,000 atmosphere per year, 593 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,440 which is the equivalent of operating 76 coal plants per a year. 594 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:17,040 So basically building 76 new coal plants, um, sounds like a bad idea to me, 595 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:18,440 but we'll see what happens. 596 00:36:18,980 --> 00:36:20,120 And, and once again, 597 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:25,080 it looks like maybe Conoco Phillips is looking for an excuse to cancel it 598 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,560 and blame everyone else for it. Um, I think that is gonna be one of the, 599 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:32,200 the big storylines of the next few months. So we will keep our eye on, 600 00:36:32,250 --> 00:36:35,040 on Willow, and then Lauren, another month, 601 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:37,560 another climate disaster in our national parks. 602 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,160 . Yeah, I'm just bringing the cheer to this podcast. 603 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:41,753 . 604 00:36:42,930 --> 00:36:47,680 So, one of the things on my life list is to see giant sequoias 605 00:36:48,030 --> 00:36:49,200 live and in person. 606 00:36:49,650 --> 00:36:52,840 There's some of the biggest and oldest species living on earth. 607 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:56,560 Some of these trees can even reach 3000 years of age. 608 00:36:56,850 --> 00:37:00,880 So that's enough to give you a hefty dose of humility and perspective. 609 00:37:00,900 --> 00:37:04,360 And while they're adapted to a fire prone landscape, 610 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:08,440 some of these recent mega fires that are just burning hotter and more intensely 611 00:37:08,790 --> 00:37:12,240 have killed up to 10,000 trees in recent years. 612 00:37:12,240 --> 00:37:15,960 That's as many as 20% of all mature sequoias. 613 00:37:16,050 --> 00:37:19,160 So pretty bad news there. I think folks were, were, 614 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:23,000 it was upsetting to read that news this summer and see the images and, 615 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:27,200 and appreciate the valiant effort of wildland firefighters to specifically 616 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:28,240 protect those trees. 617 00:37:28,580 --> 00:37:32,760 But the good news is there's a coalition of government agencies and nonprofits 618 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:37,560 that are making significant investments and actually making progress toward 619 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,360 protecting those Sequoia groves from severe wildfires in the future. 620 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,360 Right. Moving into August, um, 621 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:49,360 Colorado elected officials called on President Biden to use the Antiquities Act 622 00:37:49,370 --> 00:37:52,320 to designate Camp Hale Continental Divide National Monument. 623 00:37:52,340 --> 00:37:56,680 And spoiler alert it worked. , Jen, do you wanna tell us more about that. 624 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:00,640 ? Yeah. This, this was actually not on our radar, uh, 625 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:03,520 when we started 2022, but, uh, 626 00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:08,360 after legislation to protect 400,000 acres of public lands in 627 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:12,400 Colorado, known as the Corex stalled in Congress, uh, 628 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,560 Colorado's two senators, Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper, 629 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:20,320 along with the Governor, governor Pullis and Congressman Joan Naus, uh, 630 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,560 reached out to President Biden and asked him to use the Antiquities Act to 631 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:27,600 designate the Camp Hale Continental Divide National Monument, um, 632 00:38:28,430 --> 00:38:32,480 that these landscapes were part of the CORE Act. And I think, uh, 633 00:38:32,940 --> 00:38:35,680 you know, instead of languishing in in Congress, 634 00:38:35,780 --> 00:38:39,280 the Senator Bennett decided it was important enough to, 635 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:42,440 to reach out to the President and ask him to, uh, 636 00:38:42,690 --> 00:38:45,920 to make this President Biden's first National Monument. 637 00:38:46,970 --> 00:38:48,520 Uh, and then also in August, 638 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:51,640 president Biden actually signed the Inflation Reduction Act, 639 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:52,960 which as Jen mentioned, 640 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,880 certainly the largest investment in our nation's history to combat climate 641 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:58,920 change. And it is, 642 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:03,360 it is hard to overstate how important the overhaul of the oil and gas leasing 643 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:05,920 program is as part of that bill, 644 00:39:06,100 --> 00:39:08,760 and the fact that it made it in everything, 645 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:13,600 almost everything that we have been talking about in my seven plus years at the 646 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:17,920 Center for Western Priorities, uh, the, the royalty rates, 647 00:39:18,340 --> 00:39:20,800 non-competitive leasing, uh, 648 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:26,200 charging a fee to nominate lands for leasing, it's a very big deal, 649 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:30,960 and it will permanently change the way oil and gas leasing happens on public 650 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:34,920 lands. Uh, and we're still gonna see, uh, 651 00:39:35,060 --> 00:39:39,240 the devil will be in the details on how it's implemented as we are even seeing 652 00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:41,840 this week as the Interior Department, uh, 653 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:46,240 announces a scoping period planning for lease sales into 654 00:39:46,390 --> 00:39:51,360 2023. Um, but those reforms, top to bottom are, uh, 655 00:39:51,470 --> 00:39:55,120 a very big deal that are gonna have a really lasting impact. 656 00:39:55,830 --> 00:39:57,120 Also, in August, 657 00:39:57,220 --> 00:40:01,920 the Utah Attorney General filed a lawsuit over President Biden's decision to 658 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:02,920 reinstate, uh, 659 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:07,160 the boundaries of Bear's Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments. 660 00:40:07,290 --> 00:40:11,120 Um, you know, it was only a matter of time before this lawsuit was filed. 661 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:15,960 Attorney General Deshaun Reyes had said as soon as the monuments were restored 662 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:17,920 that he was going to file a lawsuit. 663 00:40:18,130 --> 00:40:23,120 So no one was really surprised to see the lawsuit. Um, I think as a Utah, um, 664 00:40:23,810 --> 00:40:27,800 it, it was, uh, it's clear that this is politics, 665 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,920 this is good politics in Utah, kind of, 666 00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:34,920 although our polling shows that it's not. But, um, you know, whatever, 667 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:38,520 we could get into the primary system in Utah and explain why being a, 668 00:40:38,790 --> 00:40:41,400 a radical Republican actually pays off there . 669 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:45,320 But I think it's mostly politics. Um, I don't think that this lawsuit has, 670 00:40:45,350 --> 00:40:48,120 I mean, we basically haven't heard anything about it since August, 671 00:40:48,130 --> 00:40:51,480 so it doesn't really seem like it's going anywhere right now. Um, 672 00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:52,880 one kind of weird, 673 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:57,080 bizarre thing that Utah did was they clearly spent a lot of money creating a 674 00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:01,520 flashy, uh, video to go along with the announcement of this lawsuit, 675 00:41:02,130 --> 00:41:05,720 um, which included a lot of lies in it about the monument. 676 00:41:05,910 --> 00:41:07,960 I'll just say it, it was weird. 677 00:41:08,230 --> 00:41:11,800 Yeah. Not sure what to make of that as a, as a taxpayer in Utah, 678 00:41:11,950 --> 00:41:16,880 I don't love it. . Um, so we bears ears, you know, 679 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:19,760 the monument's here to stay for now. Um, 680 00:41:20,380 --> 00:41:23,160 and I don't think this lawsuit's gonna be what undo it. 681 00:41:24,010 --> 00:41:27,360 No. Uh, and then Lauren, let's see. We had, uh, 682 00:41:27,390 --> 00:41:32,160 flooding in July, fires in August. How about, uh, 683 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:33,000 or some drought now? 684 00:41:34,050 --> 00:41:37,000 Oh, yeah. The ongoing drought in the Southwest, 685 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:41,000 which is the worst in at least 1200 years, I think at this point, 686 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:45,480 it'd be really hard to miss just how serious the situation is for the Colorado 687 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,920 River Basin. So in August, 688 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:52,880 the US Bureau of Reclamation announced water shortages along 689 00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,680 the Colorado River due to drought and climate change, uh, 690 00:41:56,680 --> 00:42:01,160 had passed a threshold for the first time that will require them to 691 00:42:01,720 --> 00:42:05,230 mandate unprecedented cuts to water use, 692 00:42:05,430 --> 00:42:10,350 which was directed specifically at two lower basin states of Arizona in 693 00:42:10,350 --> 00:42:14,590 Nevada. Um, so the, for folks who may not know, 694 00:42:14,590 --> 00:42:17,430 the Colorado River Basin is divided into upper and lower basin, 695 00:42:17,430 --> 00:42:22,310 and some of the dividing areas are the reservoirs of Lake Mead 696 00:42:22,310 --> 00:42:23,430 and Lake Powell, which are, 697 00:42:23,430 --> 00:42:27,550 I think at their lowest level since they were created. Um, 698 00:42:27,550 --> 00:42:31,270 but the Interior Department could still order cuts for the upper basin states as 699 00:42:31,270 --> 00:42:34,390 well of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. 700 00:42:34,900 --> 00:42:39,630 They are saying that system-wide states need to have a plan 701 00:42:39,630 --> 00:42:44,630 and say where they're gonna make cuts to reduce their use of 702 00:42:44,650 --> 00:42:49,590 two to 4 million acre feet of water next year. So, uh, 703 00:42:49,590 --> 00:42:54,070 and that's in order to avoid a total collapse of the entire Colorado River 704 00:42:54,070 --> 00:42:54,903 system, 705 00:42:55,300 --> 00:43:00,270 I know two to 4 million acre feet just might not bring to mind 706 00:43:00,270 --> 00:43:01,470 what scale that is, 707 00:43:01,470 --> 00:43:05,750 but if it would be like cutting the entire Colorado River allocation for the 708 00:43:05,750 --> 00:43:08,910 state of Arizona, uh, by next year, they get, 709 00:43:08,910 --> 00:43:12,590 currently get two point million acre feet per year. So, um, 710 00:43:13,170 --> 00:43:16,070 not a lot of good news on the Colorado River at the moment. 711 00:43:16,290 --> 00:43:21,110 And, and, and those level of cuts still may not be sufficient. 712 00:43:21,110 --> 00:43:25,950 We, we just today saw an op-ed from former Interior secretary and former 713 00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:30,910 Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt sounding rather impatient with the 714 00:43:30,910 --> 00:43:35,350 department he used to run, saying it is time for the, 715 00:43:35,370 --> 00:43:39,150 the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation to step in and just order these 716 00:43:39,150 --> 00:43:42,510 cuts that were agreed to back in 2019, 717 00:43:43,170 --> 00:43:47,190 and Secretary Babbitt saying, and even then, that probably won't be enough, 718 00:43:47,190 --> 00:43:49,990 but we, if we don't start here, we will never get there. 719 00:43:50,170 --> 00:43:53,710 And things are gonna get dire really, really quickly, uh, 720 00:43:53,710 --> 00:43:55,550 over the next year in the Colorado. 721 00:43:56,290 --> 00:43:59,910 All right. Well, we've made it to September, folks. Thanks for sticking with us. 722 00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:03,430 Uh, we're gonna breeze through the, the rest of 2022 here. 723 00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:06,030 So the big news in September, um, 724 00:44:06,030 --> 00:44:09,190 was that the Interior Department released guidance, um, 725 00:44:09,230 --> 00:44:13,070 directing federal agencies to include tribes in, um, 726 00:44:13,070 --> 00:44:17,230 co-management of public lands. So that is a really big deal. 727 00:44:17,230 --> 00:44:21,870 I don't think that there has ever been guidance explicitly telling the blm, 728 00:44:21,870 --> 00:44:26,750 the National Park Service Fish and Wildlife to, um, come up with, uh, 729 00:44:26,750 --> 00:44:30,230 policy memorandums that basically say how they're going to facilitate and 730 00:44:30,230 --> 00:44:34,760 support agreements with tribes to collaborate in stewarding federal public lands 731 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:38,560 and waters. Um, we've seen a lot of tribes, um, or, 732 00:44:38,610 --> 00:44:42,280 or tribal leaders and, um, tribal members celebrating this. 733 00:44:42,300 --> 00:44:45,840 And I think that we'll see a lot of those partnerships, um, 734 00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:50,080 coming into fruition in the next year or so. And that brings us to October. 735 00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:52,600 President Biden, we've mentioned this earlier, did, 736 00:44:52,700 --> 00:44:56,320 did finally designate Camp Hale Continental Divide National Monument. 737 00:44:56,380 --> 00:45:01,280 And our very own Aaron Weiss was able to attend the signing ceremony and sit 738 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:03,480 in the front row. So tell us what that was like. 739 00:45:04,110 --> 00:45:08,160 I mean, just as a experience personally, it was pretty spectacular, uh, 740 00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:11,280 getting to, to watch that, getting to, 741 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:15,640 to very quickly shake the President's hand afterwards and thank him. Uh, 742 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:20,400 but I think also getting to watch the president recognize 743 00:45:20,710 --> 00:45:25,120 what a great moment that is, that you could see he was energized, 744 00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:26,600 he was excited to be there. 745 00:45:26,890 --> 00:45:31,000 He was recognizing he was doing something that was very smart, 746 00:45:31,230 --> 00:45:35,280 both for the land and for Colorado, and very smart politically. 747 00:45:35,700 --> 00:45:39,800 And he went off script a bit and talked about the reason that he was there that 748 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:43,800 day was because Senator Michael Bennett went into his office in October, 749 00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:47,240 in August, and wouldn't leave until he agreed to do the monument. 750 00:45:48,020 --> 00:45:51,520 And that there is the lesson, uh, 751 00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:55,960 that Senator Bennett recognized this was in Colorado's best interest. 752 00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:58,080 And in his interest politically, 753 00:45:58,530 --> 00:46:03,160 he was obviously a month away from reelection at that point, 754 00:46:03,160 --> 00:46:07,680 and he was concerned, obviously, wanting to do everything he could to get there. 755 00:46:07,980 --> 00:46:10,600 And Jan, at the end of the day, it worked. 756 00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:14,880 And let's go ahead and just dive right then into November 757 00:46:15,260 --> 00:46:16,920 and what happened on election day. 758 00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:22,630 Uh, Michael Bennett was reelected, uh, by a wide margin. 759 00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:27,750 Uh, he, uh, requested this monument, and I think this was an important, 760 00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:31,710 uh, piece of his reelection effort. I, Senator Bennett, uh, 761 00:46:31,710 --> 00:46:36,590 has been a conservation champion, and I think he saw the value of, look, 762 00:46:36,590 --> 00:46:38,550 his legislation was stuck in the Senate. 763 00:46:38,610 --> 00:46:41,790 The President has the tools through the executive, 764 00:46:41,790 --> 00:46:45,870 through Executive action and the Antiquities Act to protect, uh, 765 00:46:45,870 --> 00:46:48,630 important landscapes. And, uh, you know, 766 00:46:48,660 --> 00:46:53,630 this was a really important victory for Senator Bennett and his reelection 767 00:46:53,630 --> 00:46:56,110 and an important victory for, for Colorado. 768 00:46:56,380 --> 00:46:59,630 I think it was one of the most important conservation, uh, 769 00:47:00,070 --> 00:47:04,260 elections in the West was Senator Bennett's reelection. 770 00:47:04,830 --> 00:47:07,140 On, on election night. Uh, 771 00:47:07,140 --> 00:47:11,700 Joe Biden was p caught wearing a Camp Hale national mon, 772 00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:14,580 excuse me, camp ha Continental Divide National Monument hat, 773 00:47:14,620 --> 00:47:18,820 while calling candidates to congratulate them, um, in the Oval Office. So, 774 00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:22,380 you know, it, it's not exactly, uh, clear what that says, 775 00:47:22,380 --> 00:47:25,300 but it definitely says something good about national monuments. 776 00:47:25,630 --> 00:47:28,700 He was, he was definitely telegraphing something wearing that hat, and, 777 00:47:28,700 --> 00:47:31,560 and I think, think he was telegraphing something again. 778 00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:35,680 Then a couple weeks later, uh, at the Tribal Nation Summit, Lauren. 779 00:47:36,070 --> 00:47:40,080 That's right, uh, the Tribal Nation Summit is hosted by the White House, 780 00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:41,520 and it brings together all, 781 00:47:41,550 --> 00:47:46,360 I think it's 576 federally recognized tribes delegates from all those. 782 00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:50,740 So it's a nation to nation, um, summit. 783 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:54,940 And, uh, one of the things that the president, uh, 784 00:47:54,940 --> 00:47:59,860 told the folks who attended that summit this year is 785 00:47:59,860 --> 00:48:03,300 that he intends to protect the, uh, 786 00:48:03,300 --> 00:48:05,500 a vicay area or, uh, 787 00:48:05,500 --> 00:48:08,460 some call it the Spirit Mountain area in southern Nevada. 788 00:48:08,870 --> 00:48:13,340 So this is an area that is sacred to 12 indigenous tribes who have been leading 789 00:48:13,340 --> 00:48:16,660 the effort to create the Quame National Monument. 790 00:48:17,290 --> 00:48:21,820 It's an area spanning approximately 450,000 acres, 791 00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:26,620 and it connects, uh, more than a dozen wilderness and conservation areas, 792 00:48:26,620 --> 00:48:31,220 providing really important habitat and migration corridors for 793 00:48:31,460 --> 00:48:34,740 wildlife, including big corn, sheep and desert tortoises. 794 00:48:34,740 --> 00:48:36,660 And I'll just say that Kate and I had the fortune, 795 00:48:37,010 --> 00:48:41,820 good fortune to visit that area when we were doing our avik short 796 00:48:42,100 --> 00:48:44,380 documentary film as part of our postcards campaign. 797 00:48:44,380 --> 00:48:47,660 And it is truly a stunning landscape. You, 798 00:48:47,660 --> 00:48:50,980 you get the spiritual significance just by being there. 799 00:48:51,150 --> 00:48:54,580 So we're thrilled that he has, uh, 800 00:48:54,580 --> 00:48:57,700 announced his intention and we can't wait for him to, 801 00:48:58,230 --> 00:49:00,700 to sign a proclamation to protect the area. 802 00:49:01,780 --> 00:49:05,180 Right. And that brings us to December. Um, it's, you know, 803 00:49:05,290 --> 00:49:10,260 been a fairly quiet month, I guess. Uh, we did just get the first, 804 00:49:10,590 --> 00:49:11,150 uh, 805 00:49:11,150 --> 00:49:15,660 or an indication of a pretty big lease sale that the administration 806 00:49:15,660 --> 00:49:18,060 plans to hold next year. Um, 807 00:49:18,090 --> 00:49:22,340 over a hundred thousand acres of federal public lands are on the table for 808 00:49:22,340 --> 00:49:24,460 leasing next year. Um, there's not, 809 00:49:24,460 --> 00:49:26,780 we don't have a lot more to say about that right now, 810 00:49:26,780 --> 00:49:30,300 other than we really hope the Interior Department, um, 811 00:49:30,460 --> 00:49:33,460 implements all those changes that were made in the Inflation reduction Act, 812 00:49:33,570 --> 00:49:38,060 plus all of the changes that the interior department identified it needed to 813 00:49:38,060 --> 00:49:41,900 make in its own report on oil and gas leasing, um, that it was, you know, 814 00:49:41,900 --> 00:49:45,900 preparing during that oil and gas leasing pause. So, um, we're, 815 00:49:45,900 --> 00:49:48,820 we're just eagerly awaiting, um, a lot of, um, 816 00:49:48,820 --> 00:49:52,420 reforms and updates to come out of the interior department as it when it comes 817 00:49:52,420 --> 00:49:56,140 to leasing, and we'll see how that all plays out next year. Um, 818 00:49:56,740 --> 00:49:59,820 we've already touched on Laura Daniel Davis, but, uh, Jen, 819 00:49:59,820 --> 00:50:02,620 do you wanna say anything about what we're waiting to see there? 820 00:50:02,730 --> 00:50:06,660 Well, in terms of Laura's, uh, nomination, I think we have to, we'll, 821 00:50:06,660 --> 00:50:11,460 we'll see if the president renos her for, for that, uh, position. Uh, 822 00:50:11,620 --> 00:50:14,980 so stay tuned. Uh, we'll know more in 2023. 823 00:50:15,590 --> 00:50:19,100 Um, and then of course, as Lauren just mentioned, Quame, 824 00:50:19,100 --> 00:50:23,260 the president said he intends to create, or he intends to protect that area, 825 00:50:23,260 --> 00:50:28,200 ostensibly that would be as a national monument. Um, and, uh, 826 00:50:28,200 --> 00:50:31,120 what else are we sort of waiting for, waiting to see Lauren? 827 00:50:31,790 --> 00:50:35,560 I think our message to the president and the administration is go ahead and keep 828 00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:39,760 that antiquity, Zach Pen un holsters, and at the ready. Um, 829 00:50:39,910 --> 00:50:43,120 he's already indicated he is, um, 830 00:50:43,240 --> 00:50:47,080 would like to protect Avik, and as we discussed, 831 00:50:47,110 --> 00:50:50,880 Kana range and the community have been working for decades to protect that area. 832 00:50:51,010 --> 00:50:53,640 So we're looking forward to seeing him, uh, 833 00:50:53,640 --> 00:50:56,680 using his authority to protect some of those areas. 834 00:50:57,260 --> 00:51:00,280 And Aaron, coming back to the conservation atlas, 835 00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:04,600 I think we kicked off with this, uh, . We're still waiting to see it. 836 00:51:04,600 --> 00:51:06,400 What are your, what are your thoughts on that. 837 00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:11,560 ? Exactly. We, we started the year with these listening sessions, 838 00:51:11,560 --> 00:51:15,240 which suggested the interior department was moving quickly on it. 839 00:51:15,700 --> 00:51:18,840 And I just wanna say that the atlas, uh, 840 00:51:19,010 --> 00:51:21,320 it is not just symbolic, 841 00:51:21,320 --> 00:51:25,640 but it's actually important to be able to track what you're doing in terms of 842 00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:28,320 conservation in terms of 30 by 30. 843 00:51:28,700 --> 00:51:33,680 And it's important to build things that outlast any one 844 00:51:33,680 --> 00:51:37,920 administration to be able to say to a future administration, 845 00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:39,080 Republican or Democrat, 846 00:51:39,650 --> 00:51:44,160 we set up this for a reason and it needs to keep going for a reason. 847 00:51:44,160 --> 00:51:48,720 And that's why it's so important that this conservation atlas get 848 00:51:48,720 --> 00:51:52,200 completed. It doesn't exist in any other form right now to be able to say, 849 00:51:52,350 --> 00:51:56,080 here are the lands that America has protected everywhere. Um, 850 00:51:56,080 --> 00:51:59,560 so I think it is an important thing to not just let, uh, 851 00:51:59,560 --> 00:52:03,120 fall by the wayside going forward, but be able to say, yes, 852 00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:07,680 here is a finished product and here's how it will be a living document in the 853 00:52:07,960 --> 00:52:09,040 years and decades to come. 854 00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:11,840 Right. Basically a plan for conservation. Um, 855 00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:14,800 we don't have a coherent plan right now, so we need one. 856 00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:17,720 Yeah. Uh, here, here's what counts and why. Mm-hmm. . 857 00:52:17,720 --> 00:52:18,960 Yeah. Um, 858 00:52:18,990 --> 00:52:23,640 also another thing that didn't happen in December is the Senate did not pass 859 00:52:23,640 --> 00:52:27,600 permitting reform. Um, it almost did, but it tied and, um, 860 00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:31,760 therefore died in the Senate. And that's, that's a, that's a good thing because, 861 00:52:32,130 --> 00:52:33,520 um, this bill that was, 862 00:52:33,650 --> 00:52:38,240 or this permitting reform language that was brought back by Senator Joe Manchin, 863 00:52:38,570 --> 00:52:42,560 um, was actually worse than the first time he tried to pass permitting reform 864 00:52:42,560 --> 00:52:47,480 earlier this year. This new bill, um, proposed changes that would've like, 865 00:52:47,870 --> 00:52:52,720 just made it a much harder to petition, um, or to, uh, 866 00:52:53,810 --> 00:52:57,720 to sue over projects that have issues. Um, 867 00:52:57,720 --> 00:52:59,960 and it would have sped up, um, 868 00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:05,240 judicial reviews for projects and enacted page limits on environmental review 869 00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:10,240 documents. So a lot of, um, things that would sort of hamstring npa, 870 00:53:10,240 --> 00:53:13,760 which of course is a really important environmental law that was created for a 871 00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:17,000 reason and works very well. Um, if you wanna know more about permitting, 872 00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:21,160 permitting reform and how we can actually maybe speed up the permitting process, 873 00:53:21,210 --> 00:53:23,400 go back and listen to our episode with Jamie Plum. 874 00:53:23,650 --> 00:53:25,400 We talked about that in depth, 875 00:53:25,400 --> 00:53:29,520 and I will not bore you here with any more of permitting reform talk. Um, 876 00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:34,200 closing out, we, we mentioned this earlier, but, um, the Colorado River, we're, 877 00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:37,320 we're, you know, all eyes on the Colorado River is really, I think, 878 00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:39,680 how we're gonna go into 2023. Um, Lauren, 879 00:53:39,680 --> 00:53:41,080 is there anything you wanna add on that? 880 00:53:41,390 --> 00:53:42,160 Yeah, I mean, 881 00:53:42,160 --> 00:53:47,080 I think it is fair to say that there's broad agreement that the river is 882 00:53:47,080 --> 00:53:47,913 in crisis. 883 00:53:47,980 --> 00:53:52,920 And the challenge is that there doesn't appear to be agreement yet on what to 884 00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:54,440 do about it. Uh, 885 00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:57,960 one of the challenges though is that the Colorado River Compact itself, 886 00:53:57,960 --> 00:54:02,440 which was, uh, approved in a hundred years ago, 1922, 887 00:54:02,990 --> 00:54:07,760 didn't include tribal nations who are, um, historic, 888 00:54:07,760 --> 00:54:12,640 who have a tremendous stake in Colorado River and deserve a seat 889 00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:17,120 at the table. And it was also based on several years of above average, 890 00:54:17,770 --> 00:54:21,240 uh, flow and precipitation in the river. So I think there's, 891 00:54:21,240 --> 00:54:25,840 there's a lot of justifiable hesitance to revisit that agreement. But, 892 00:54:26,530 --> 00:54:29,240 um, as John Ensminger, 893 00:54:29,240 --> 00:54:33,280 the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority put it very 894 00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:35,720 accurately regarding the severity of the situation, 895 00:54:35,890 --> 00:54:40,600 he said the circumstances on the ground are overtaking the pace of negotiations 896 00:54:40,600 --> 00:54:42,560 and discussions one way or another. 897 00:54:42,610 --> 00:54:47,240 Physics and mother nature are going to dictate outcomes if we don't come up with 898 00:54:47,240 --> 00:54:52,120 some solutions. So it's really up to the Colorado River Basin states to, 899 00:54:52,250 --> 00:54:53,083 um, 900 00:54:53,450 --> 00:54:58,040 to decide on their own terms where they will make cuts or the federal government 901 00:54:58,040 --> 00:55:02,440 will have to step in and do so, uh, unilaterally early in the, 902 00:55:02,490 --> 00:55:03,323 in the new year. 903 00:55:04,420 --> 00:55:09,320 And I just wanna close looking forward by asking both Jen 904 00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:13,920 and Lauren to reflect on some of their time in Lauren's case, 905 00:55:13,920 --> 00:55:16,360 working inside the interior department. In Jen's case, 906 00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:18,560 a lot of time on Capitol Hill, 907 00:55:19,050 --> 00:55:23,960 on the shape of an administration on the shape of a congressional term, 908 00:55:23,970 --> 00:55:28,440 because on paper on the calendar next month 909 00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:31,880 marks halfway of the Biden administration, 910 00:55:31,940 --> 00:55:35,480 the President Biden's first term. But in actuality, 911 00:55:35,690 --> 00:55:37,480 is there really that much time left, 912 00:55:37,480 --> 00:55:42,080 or are we more than halfway in terms of how much you can really get go, 913 00:55:42,080 --> 00:55:45,680 get done given what happens over the next two years heading into another 914 00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:46,800 presidential election? 915 00:55:47,710 --> 00:55:50,960 People are already starting to talk about the 2024 election, 916 00:55:50,960 --> 00:55:55,040 and so I think the Biden administration will certainly be under that microscope, 917 00:55:55,040 --> 00:55:59,600 but they can get a lot done in this next year to year and a half, uh, 918 00:55:59,600 --> 00:56:04,200 before they really have to start focusing on what we assume right now is a real 919 00:56:04,440 --> 00:56:06,320 election effort. Um, but Lauren, 920 00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:10,440 you were in the Obama administration at this time, uh, 921 00:56:10,440 --> 00:56:14,600 during this period of time. I think you may have, uh, 922 00:56:14,600 --> 00:56:18,320 kinda an insider view of, of what you can get done. 923 00:56:18,790 --> 00:56:19,590 That's right. 924 00:56:19,590 --> 00:56:24,280 I joined the office of the Assistant secretary for Landon Minerals 925 00:56:24,280 --> 00:56:27,200 Management in June, 2014. 926 00:56:27,370 --> 00:56:30,840 So that was looking at about two years left in the Obama administration. 927 00:56:30,850 --> 00:56:33,960 So I worked for the person who was in that role, um, 928 00:56:34,920 --> 00:56:36,280 previously the LA b, 929 00:56:36,280 --> 00:56:38,520 which is the same as the one that we're trying to get Laura, 930 00:56:38,520 --> 00:56:42,160 Daniel Davis confirmed for. And I will say, uh, 931 00:56:42,190 --> 00:56:46,280 I expressed hesitation or concern to, to Janice Schneider. I just said, boy, 932 00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:50,600 you know, we got a lot to get done here. And she, uh, said, well, Lauren, 933 00:56:50,620 --> 00:56:53,040 I'm incredibly results oriented. 934 00:56:53,130 --> 00:56:56,600 So the first thing I I need is I need you to track everything that we're getting 935 00:56:56,600 --> 00:57:00,640 done, and we're gonna do our best. And I don't have a number for the, 936 00:57:00,780 --> 00:57:04,920 the rules, um, the, the programs, 937 00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:08,480 the things that we did, but I know that, um, 938 00:57:09,330 --> 00:57:13,500 with the right leadership in place, you can get a lot done. 939 00:57:13,990 --> 00:57:14,340 Um, 940 00:57:14,340 --> 00:57:19,220 and that I can say from experience that these are 941 00:57:19,220 --> 00:57:23,460 where you'll find the actual experts working in agencies on these issues. 942 00:57:23,460 --> 00:57:28,020 The actual experts on offshore renewable energy on surface 943 00:57:28,020 --> 00:57:31,900 mine reclamation on national conservation land. 944 00:57:31,900 --> 00:57:35,940 So I have so much confidence in the folks who are in the interior department 945 00:57:35,940 --> 00:57:38,100 doing this important work. Um, 946 00:57:38,100 --> 00:57:41,580 one thing that concerns me is a headline I saw I think this week, 947 00:57:41,580 --> 00:57:43,820 maybe last week, that, uh, 948 00:57:44,220 --> 00:57:48,540 BLM still has 25% of its positions are unfilled. 949 00:57:48,540 --> 00:57:49,540 That's a tremendous. 950 00:57:49,540 --> 00:57:50,700 Issue. 3000 jobs. 951 00:57:51,010 --> 00:57:55,760 Yeah. Yeah. And that's at an agency of I think, 10,000 people. Um, 952 00:57:55,760 --> 00:57:58,000 I don't know if that math quite works out, but that, 953 00:57:58,070 --> 00:57:59,920 that's what's concerning to me, 954 00:57:59,920 --> 00:58:03,480 is making sure that these folks have the resources they need, uh, 955 00:58:03,480 --> 00:58:05,120 to do this important work. 956 00:58:05,120 --> 00:58:08,120 But I have all the confidence in the world that they're, um, 957 00:58:08,120 --> 00:58:12,360 they're doing their best and that they have really smart people looking at 958 00:58:12,360 --> 00:58:14,480 really complicated, challenging things. 959 00:58:14,860 --> 00:58:19,360 All right. Jen, any final thoughts on the year that was, 960 00:58:19,530 --> 00:58:20,880 or the year that we'll be? 961 00:58:21,670 --> 00:58:26,320 I think this was an important year for the Biden administration. Uh, 962 00:58:26,840 --> 00:58:29,400 certainly protecting his first national monument, 963 00:58:29,910 --> 00:58:33,600 committing to protect a Vic May as his next national monument. 964 00:58:33,600 --> 00:58:38,440 And I'm very optimistic about what the president and his team 965 00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:42,640 are gonna be able to do in 2023 from, uh, you know, 966 00:58:42,640 --> 00:58:47,520 land protection to oil and gas leasing reform. Uh, I think, 967 00:58:47,810 --> 00:58:49,960 uh, you know, there's a lot, 968 00:58:50,150 --> 00:58:53,680 a lot of great progress that's been made and will be made next year. 969 00:59:02,610 --> 00:59:07,110 All right. I think that will do it for us here. Uh, as always, 970 00:59:07,160 --> 00:59:10,350 if you enjoyed listening, please drop us a line, 971 00:59:10,350 --> 00:59:14,110 drop us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to it. 972 00:59:14,440 --> 00:59:18,870 Podcast western priorities.org is where to send emails. 973 00:59:19,370 --> 00:59:24,360 Jen Rola, Lauren Bogard, thank you so much for joining us, 974 00:59:24,360 --> 00:59:28,680 and thank you for another great year of standing up for public lands. Uh, 975 00:59:28,680 --> 00:59:30,720 I'm Erin Weiss, the Center for Western Priorities. 976 00:59:31,100 --> 00:59:34,160 And I'm Kate Reninger. Thanks again for listening to the landscape.