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☆ Biden Administration to Announce Cancellation of Alaska Wildlife Drilling Leases-Sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

(Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday will announce the cancellation of oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state agency in 2021, according to sources briefed on the matter. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) was issued seven leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a day before the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who had pledged to protect the habitat for polar bears and caribou. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles)

Persons: Joe Biden, Jarrett Renshaw, Nichola Groom Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Interior Department, Alaska Industrial Development, Export Authority, Wildlife Locations: U.S, Alaska, Washington, Los Angeles

☆ Biden administration to announce cancellation of Alaska wildlife drilling leases-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. President Joe Biden convenes the fourth virtual leader-level meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday will announce the cancellation of oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state agency in 2021, according to sources briefed on the matter. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) was issued seven leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a day before the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who had pledged to protect the habitat for polar bears and caribou. Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los AngelesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kevin Lamarque, Jarrett Renshaw, Nichola Groom Organizations: Major Economies, White, REUTERS, U.S . Interior Department, Alaska Industrial Development, Export Authority, Wildlife, Los Angeles Our, Thomson Locations: Energy, Washington , U.S, U.S, Alaska, Washington, Los Angeles

Interior Department on Wednesday said it would cancel oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state development agency in the final days of former President Donald Trump's administration. Environmentalists and an Alaska indigenous group praised the move while a Republican Senator from Alaska slammed it. A Republican-passed tax bill in 2017 opened the area to oil and gas leasing and directed Interior to hold two lease sales by December 2024. The oil and gas industry largely failed to embrace the 2021 lease sale, which generated just $14 million in high bids, mostly from AIDEA. “We commend Secretary Haaland for canceling unlawfully issued oil-and-gas leases in the Arctic Refuge,” Abigail Dillen, president of environmental group Earthjustice, said in a statement.

Persons: Donald Trump's, Joe Biden, Biden, Deb Haaland, AIDEA, “, ” Abigail Dillen, Dan Sullivan, Interior's, Jarrett Renshaw, Nichola Groom, Chizu Nomiyama, David Gregorio, Mark Porter Organizations: U.S . Fish, Wildlife Service, Library, Fish, REUTERS, Conocophillips, U.S . Interior Department, Alaska Industrial Development, Export Authority, Wildlife, Democrat, National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska Natives, Trump, ConocoPhillips, United Nations, ALASKA Trump's Interior Department, Republican, Biden, Thomson Locations: Beaufort, Wildlife Service Alaska, U.S, Alaska, United States, ALASKA Trump's, ANWR, Washington, Los Angeles

☆ Native American children may have been forced into assimilation at more boarding schools than previously reported, group says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Nicole Chavez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition released a new list of Indigenous boarding schools Wednesday that surpasses the number of previously reported institutions. The list of Indigenous boarding schools in the United States includes many that have closed and some that are still in operation today. It found the federal government ran or supported 408 boarding schools that forced assimilation between 1819 and 1969. The list also includes 125 schools that are currently open and that were or are considered Indigenous boarding schools. The legislation provided religious organizations with the resources to run more than a hundred schools for Native American children.

Persons: Deborah Parker, “ There’s, it’s, ” Parker, “ We’re, “ They’re, Deb Haaland, – Organizations: CNN, National, American Boarding School, Coalition, of Interior, White, Interior Department, Federal Locations: White, United States, American, Alaska

A new accounting shows that at least 523 institutions were part of the sprawling network of boarding schools for Native American children. ‘War Against the Children’ The Native American boarding school system — a decades-long effort to assimilate Indigenous people before they ever reached adulthood — robbed children of their culture, family bonds and sometimes their lives. “The government was not done with war, so the next phase involved war against the children,” said Mr. Sherman, 83, a former aerospace engineer. Now 76, his voice grows shaky when he recounts the punishments children received — and how children were turned into punishers. Library of Congress, Chronicling AmericaA precise accounting of how many children died at Native American boarding schools remains elusive.

☆ Denmark's Orsted anticipates $730 mln impact on US portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

General view of the Walney Extension offshore wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, Britain, September 5, 2018. 1 offshore wind farm developer, said on Wednesday it anticipates impairments of up to 5 billion Danish crowns ($729.78 million) on its U.S. portfolio, as there is an increasing risk in its suppliers' ability to deliver on their commitments. The Ocean Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind projects are adversely impacted by a handful of supplier delays, the company said in a statement. In July, Orsted's Ocean Wind project won approval from the U.S. Interior Department, to help the country reach its goal of developing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 on every shoreline.

Persons: Orsted, Phil Noble, Gursimran Kaur, Andy Sullivan Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . Interior Department, Ocean, Public Service Enterprise, Thomson Locations: Walney, Blackpool, Britain, U.S, Orsted, New Jersey, Bengaluru

☆ First US Gulf offshore wind auction to fuel region's green hydrogen push
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It is considered "green" if produced with renewable energy and "gray" if the process is fueled with carbon-emitting natural gas. "When we get to the Gulf, (offshore wind) will start becoming much more disconnected from the grid," said Cheryl Stahl, principal project manager at risk assessment firm DNV. In comments to BOEM on the planned Gulf sale earlier this year, those three companies noted the potential of offshore wind to produce green hydrogen in the region. "The Gulf of Mexico is uniquely situated to facilitate and benefit from green hydrogen production via offshore wind," Shell said in April, pointing to the region's existing port and pipeline infrastructure as well as new federal funding for green hydrogen development. The American Clean Power Association, a trade group that represents offshore wind and other renewable energy developers, also said in its comments to BOEM that green hydrogen would "increase market viability of offshore wind."

Persons: Biden, Cheryl Stahl, John Filostrat, Shell, TotalEnergies, Alon Carmel, Joe Biden's, Lacy McManus, McManus, Nichola, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Department's, of Ocean Energy Management, Companies, Shell, Clean Power Association, PA Consulting, New, New Orleans Inc, Thomson Locations: U.S, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, New York, New Jersey, New Orleans, South Louisiana

☆ Oil companies sue U.S. over Gulf auction changes meant to protect whale
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Unused oil rigs sit in the Gulf of Mexico near Port Fourchon, Louisiana August 11, 2010. The suit is the latest dispute between the oil and gas industry and the administration of President Joe Biden over leasing federal lands and waters for energy development. The final sale notice included new restrictions on development meant to protect the endangered Rice's whale. Lease Sale 261 will be held on Sept. 27 and will offer approximately 12,395 blocks on approximately 67 million acres (27 million hectares) on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

Persons: Lee Celano, Joe Biden, Biden, Ryan Meyers, Mrinmay Dey, Nichola, Michael Perry Organizations: REUTERS, Chevron, Biden, Western, Western District of, Interior Department's, of Ocean Energy Management, American Petroleum Institute, Interior Department, U.S . Outer Continental, Thomson Locations: Gulf of Mexico, Port Fourchon , Louisiana, Louisiana, Gulf, Mexico, Western District, Western District of Louisiana, Central

☆ Biden wants to make sure Congress doesn't slash pay for firefighters tackling wildfires raging across the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration wants additional funding from Congress for Ukraine, extreme weather, and the border. Currently, wildfire firefighters are working under a temporary pay increase, which will expire by October. "The administration is committed to building a more robust and resilient wildland firefighter workforce and fairly compensate wildland firefighters' difficult and dangerous work that they do. "We've seen bipartisan understanding of the need to provide firefighter pay to prevent a cliff," the official said. On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act, which would make pay increases for firefighters permanent.

Persons: Biden, Joe Biden's, Kevin McCarthy, We've, Josh Harder, weren't Organizations: Biden, Management, Service, Agriculture, FEMA, OMB, NBC News, National Federation of Federal Employees, National Forest Service Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Hawaii, Texas, California

☆ Thousands of employees in the US Department of the Interior are using accounts that are easily hacked
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A report from the US Department of the Interior showed that 21% of employee accounts could be hacked. The report also noted that nearly 500 employees used "Password-1234" to protect their accounts. A report from the Department of the Interior reveals the most-used password among their employees last year was "Password-1234." "My sneaking suspicion is that Interior Department employees are no different from most Americans in how they use passwords, so if this problem exists in my department, it could exist across the federal government and in business offices and private homes nationwide," Greenblatt wrote. Greenblatt also noted that 99.99% of the 18,000 accounts that staff cracked met the Department's password complexity requirements — including "Password-1234."

Persons: Kathleen Sedney, Mark Lee Greenblatt, Greenblatt Organizations: US Department of, Washington Post, Department of, Integrity, Interior Department Locations: Washington, United States

☆ Biden Administration Moves to Raise the Cost of Drilling on Federal Lands
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Coral Davenport | More About Coral Davenport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration on Thursday proposed a rule that would raise the royalties that fossil fuel companies pay to pull oil, gas and coal from public lands for the first time since 1920, while increasing more than tenfold the cost of the bonds that companies must pay before they start drilling. The Interior Department estimated that the new rule, which would also raise various other rates and fees for drilling on public lands, would increase costs for fossil fuel companies by about $1.8 billion between now and 2031. After that, rates could increase again. About half of that money would go to states while a third would be used to fund water projects in the West. Officials at the Interior Department characterize the changes as part of a broader shift as it seeks to address climate change by expanding renewable energy on public land and in federal waters while making it more expensive for private companies to drill there.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Interior Department, West

More than 30% of households on the Navajo reservation currently lack running water, according to the tribe. "The 1868 treaty reserved necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the Navajo Reservation," Kavanaugh wrote in the ruling. "But the treaty did not require the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe." Circuit Court of Appeals that had given a green light to the Navajo Nation's lawsuit against the U.S. Interior Department and others seeking to prod the government to develop a plan to secure water for the tribe.

Persons: Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Andrew Chung, John Kruzel, Will Dunham Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Supreme, Conservative, U.S ., San, Circuit, U.S . Interior Department, of, Thomson Locations: Navajo, United States, U.S . Civil, Colorado, Arizona , New Mexico, Utah, San Francisco, Texas, New York, Washington

The justices found that the plaintiffs - the Republican-governed state of Texas and three non-Native American families - lacked the necessary legal standing to bring their challenge. They also rejected challenges to the law, known as the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, on other grounds. Congress passed it to end a longstanding practice in the United States of removing many Native American children from their families and placing them with non-Native Americans. At the time of the law's passage, between 25% and 35% of all Native American children were removed in states with large Native American populations, according to court papers. Interior Department and federal officials by Texas and the three families who sought to adopt or foster Native American children.

Persons: Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Joe Biden, Biden, Jennifer, Chad Brackeen, Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Constitution's, Republican, Indian Child Welfare, Tribal Nations, Indian Child Welfare Association, National Congress of American, Child Welfare, U.S . Interior Department, Circuit, Thomson Locations: Texas, United States, Navajo, New Orleans, New York

☆ Supreme Court Upholds Native American Adoption Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 1978 law aimed at keeping Native American adoptees with their tribes and traditions, handing a victory to tribes that had argued that a blow to the law would upend the basic principles that have allowed them to govern themselves. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., dissented. Justice Barrett acknowledged the myriad thorny subjects raised in the challenge to the law, which pitted a white foster couple from Texas against five tribes and the Interior Department as they battled over the adoption of a Native American child. “But the bottom line is that we reject all of petitioners’ challenges to the statute, some on the merits and others for lack of standing.”

Persons: Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Barrett, ” Organizations: Interior Department Locations: Texas, American

☆ US bans new oil and gas leasing around New Mexico cultural site
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tribes, conservationists and state officials have long called on the federal government to ban drilling in the area. Structures in the area date back thousands of years, and the park is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural agency. It is aligned with his goal to conserve at least 30% of federal lands and waters by 2030. But, the Interior Department ban on new leasing on federal lands around Chaco will last for just 20 years and does not extend to private, state or tribal lands. Oil and gas industry groups have opposed withdrawing the lands around Chaco for leasing.

Persons: Read, Biden, Joe Biden, Biden's, Deb Haaland, Nichola Groom, Kim Coghill Organizations: Chaco Culture, Historic, UNESCO, United Nations, Interior Department, New, Congressional, Navajo Nation, U.S . Bureau of Land Management, Thomson Locations: Pueblo, Chaco, New Mexico, U.S, New Mexican, American, Laguna

☆ Biden Interior advances renewable energy transmission projects in Nevada
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management this week said it has advanced two transmission projects proposed by public utility NV Energy that would facilitate more renewable energy development and delivery in Nevada. Once completed, the projects will connect eight gigawatts of clean energy to the Western power grid. The plans would bolster the Biden administration's goal to deploy 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands and waters by 2025 and achieve a carbon-free power sector by 2035. The announcement comes as Congress debates federal energy permitting overhauls, with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., introducing a measure earlier this month to speed permitting of both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects. Transmission projects involve expanding high-voltage lines that transport renewable energy to populated areas and will play a critical role in accelerating the clean energy transition while meeting growing power demand.

☆ A Breakthrough Deal to Keep the Colorado River From Going Dry, for Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Christopher Flavelle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

California, Arizona and Nevada get their shares of water from Lake Mead, which is formed by the Colorado River at the Hoover Dam and is controlled by the federal government. The Bureau of Reclamation, an agency within the Interior Department, determines how much water each of the three states receives. The other states that depend on the Colorado get water directly from the river and its tributaries. At that point, all seven states that rely on the river — which include Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — could face a deeper reckoning, as its decline is likely to continue. The negotiations over the Colorado were spurred by a crisis: Last summer, the water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest reservoirs along the river, fell enough that officials feared the hydroelectric turbines they powered might soon cease operating.

☆ U.S. considers new land swap deal in Alaska wildlife refuge
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Interior Department will review the environmental impacts of a possible land swap deal that would allow a new road to cut through an Alaska wildlife refuge, it said on Wednesday. In a notice published in the Federal Register, Interior said it would consider an exchange that would allow for a road corridor for noncommercial use through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the Izembek Wilderness Area. Environmentalists have said a road would destroy valuable habitat for birds along Kinzarof Lagoon, and would set a dangerous precedent for other wildlife refuges. The deal set by former President Donald Trump's administration was controversial because it left open the door to commercial use of the road. Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service will accept public comments on the analysis for 30 days.

Interior Department on Tuesday removed one of the last remaining obstacles to Lithium Americas Corp's (LAC.TO), Thacker Pass mine project in Nevada by finding nearly all of the site contains the metal used to make electric-vehicle batteries. The opinion from the department's solicitor comes amid an acrimonious debate about whether more U.S. mines should be built to produce lithium and other green energy transition metals. Of the dozens of mining claims at the Thacker Pass site held by the company, the government found fewer than 10 did not contain lithium mineralization, an Interior Department official told Reuters. "They're going to be able to start construction and production without these claims being in the plan of operation," the official said of Lithium Americas. "We're in favor of increasing domestic mineral production when it's being done in the right location and in the right way," the official said.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the law, which instructed the U.S. Circuit said the law "makes clear" that those leases are no longer subject to requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires a thorough look at environmental impacts of proposed major federal actions. Earthjustice attorney Steve Mashuda, who represented the environmental groups, said in a statement that the decision will harm Gulf communities and ecosystems. A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute called the order a “positive step toward more certainty and clarity for energy producers.”The Interior Department, which did not appeal the lower court decision, declined to comment. v. Debra Haaland et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, case No.

Fish and Wildlife Service. Damage to the launch pad, the floor of which was largely demolished during liftoff, was visible in photos of the aftermath. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Fish and Wildlife Service findings. The April 20 launch was days after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted SpaceX a license to launch the Starship via its Super Heavy rocket booster. REUTERS/Joe Skipper 1 2 3The report by the Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the U.S.

☆ Enraged congressional Republicans call Biden's reelection bid a sign of the apocalypse. But some of his former GOP colleagues say America can simply do better.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

incumbent President Joe Biden is officially running for reelection in 2024 to "finish the job." Some House and Senate Republicans cast a second Biden term as certain doom. "Finishing the job would be truly catastrophic," Ted Cruz said, riffing on Biden's reelection theme. Cruz delved even deeper into the bleakness, predicting that a second Biden administration would usher in more inflation, crime, illegal crossings at the southern border and embolden global adversaries including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. And surely, we can do better than that," Wicker told Insider at the US Capitol.

CompaniesCompanies Law Firms Conocophillips FollowApril 3 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday rejected a bid by environmentalists to temporarily suspend the U.S. government’s approval of ConocoPhillips' (COP.N) multibillion-dollar oil drilling project in Alaska’s Arctic. Gleason said an injunction was inappropriate because the groups wouldn't be irreparably harmed by the construction that ConocoPhillips has scheduled for this month, which includes building roads and a gravel mine. Bridget Psarianos, an attorney challenging the approval, called the planned construction schedule "aggressive" and said the judge's decision is "heartbreaking." The approvals for the project in northern Alaska give ConocoPhillips permission to construct three drill pads, 25.8 miles of gravel roads, an air strip and hundreds of miles of ice roads. The 30-year project would produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak, according to the company.

☆ Biden Interior proposes leasing public lands for conservation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration this week proposed a new rule that would allow the Interior Department to lease public lands for conservation, a process similar to how the agency delivers leases for oil and gas development and mining projects. The Interior on Thursday said establishing conservation leases would help states and companies offset the environmental impact of their development plans. Issuing conservation leases would generate revenue and make landscapes more resilient to climate change, Interior officials said. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement said the country's public lands are under mounting pressure amid unprecedented climate-related disasters like wildfires and drought. "We appreciate the meaningful conservation measures in this new rule that have the promise to advance biodiversity, climate resilience and equity on our public lands," O'Shea said.

☆ Biden to designate two new national monuments, in Nevada and Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A wind and snow storm builds along the mountains of the Spirit Mountain Wilderness as viewed from Highway 163 on March 10, 2021 in Laughlin, Nevada. The Biden administration on Tuesday will establish two new national monuments in the Southwest, a decision that will protect the Spirit Mountain area in Nevada and Castner Range in Texas from development. The proclamations are part of the administration's commitment to protect one-third of the country's lands and waters by 2030. The Spirit Mountain area, also known as Avi Kwa Ame, would be the largest protected area under the administration so far and only the second monument designated to honor Indigenous tribes while conserving public land. Avi Kwa Ame is considered sacred by tribes including Mojave, Chemehuevi and Paiute.

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