G2. Local Greens

Rushed environmental reviews won’t speed up new mines. Evidence suggests it slows them down

Cutting environmental red tape to speed up mining in America has become a popular talking point across party lines. On the right, the Trump administration has made expediting mineral production a signature effort; on the left, the “abundance” movement argues that faster permitting is essential to building a clean energy future. But both arguments rest on a flawed premise.

Research and real-world examples show that “permitting reform” targets the wrong problem, and the proposed solutions from both sides increase delays and opposition to projects, not reduce them.

As former Interior department official Steve Feldgus explained in a recent episode of the Center for Western Priorities podcast, The Landscape, and as University of Utah researcher Jamie Pleune lays out in a forthcoming article titled “Red tape is a red herring,” the real obstacles to responsible mining lie elsewhere: misleading industry claims, financing and market dynamics, inadequate agency staffing, and a loss of public trust.

Much of the problem starts with flawed statistics that purport to pinpoint singular bottlenecks in the process of developing a mine. For example, mining industry advocates frequently claim that it takes between seven and ten years to permit a mine in the United States, citing a report that was funded by, among others, the National Mining Association. However, as both Feldgus and Pleune point out, this industry-funded report notes that its authors did not do independent research to arrive at this statistic, and that it relied on data provided by “third parties,” including the National Mining Association.

Statistics on mine development timelines are also inconsistent regarding when the clock starts and what parts of the process are included. Most mines begin with exploration, where individuals or companies search for minerals, assess whether mining those minerals would be profitable, and seek investors to finance development of a mine. As Pleune notes, exploration that disturbs five acres or less of public land does not require a mining plan—the person or company just has to notify the Bureau of Land Management—and for exploration that disturbs more than five acres and requires an exploration plan, those approvals are usually granted in six months or less. So permitting does not delay exploration, and yet exploration is often included in mine development timelines that blame permitting for how long mine development takes.

The Mountain Pass rare earths mine in California, Tmy350 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Pleune also points out that in some cases, a smaller mining company may start exploration and then negotiate with a larger company to take over development of an actual mine. Negotiating these deals adds to the timeline, and permitting is not responsible for causing delays at this stage. Arranging financing for mine development is another large and complex hurdle that extends mine development timelines. As Pleune explains, investors prefer projects that offer predictable returns on short timeframes with manageable risks; most mining projects check none of these boxes, making financing challenging to secure. Global minerals markets and geopolitical dynamics introduce even more complexity into mine development. A company might complete its permitting process, but decide to wait for more favorable market or geopolitical conditions before it begins operations—again, dragging out the timeline and blaming permitting when it’s actually other factors driving production decisions.

Feldgus points to the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada as a recent example of a misleading timeline. Lithium was discovered there in the 1970s, but no effort was made to develop a mine until much more recently when demand for lithium had skyrocketed—yet advocates for permitting reform claim that the Thacker Pass mine has taken 40 years to develop and blame permitting for the delay.

Aerial view of the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, U.S. Geological Survey

Other legitimate examples do exist of mines that have genuinely taken decades to permit, but in those cases, as Feldgus points out, “There’s a reason it takes that long. You’re trying to build a mine next to a wilderness area or in a very sensitive fishery. These are mines where people get very worked up and very concerned, and there’s a lot of political pushback. Mines can take a long time, but that’s not the NEPA process doing that.” In other words, this is the National Environmental Policy Act working as intended to ensure projects undergo rigorous review so the government and communities are aware of likely environmental damage.

For the most part, though, once the Bureau of Land Management or the U.S. Forest Service has received a proposed mine plan, the process of reviewing the plan, seeking and reviewing public comment, and eventually approving the mine plan takes three to four years, even for the largest mines. However, both Feldgus and Pleune emphasize that mine plan approval is a small piece of a much longer process which includes exploration, technical and economic analysis, securing investors, and building trust with neighboring communities. In other words, Feldgus says, artificially limiting the environmental review process to two years (as was recently mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act passed in 2023) isn’t all that meaningful in the grand scheme of taking a mine from exploration to production. On the contrary, rushed environmental reviews can actually introduce more delays if they are flawed and can’t withstand legal challenges, or if they drive opposition to the project by creating a perception in the community that the project is being rushed and corners are being cut. A mining company may save a year in the NEPA process, but add five years in litigation or overcoming public opposition to the project.

Currently, Feldgus notes, “Congress is very fixated on the idea of speeding up the back end of things. ‘How do we get NEPA done as fast as possible? How do we cut off lawsuits so that these things don’t go through the courts for years and years?’ It’s all on the back end, basically.” A more helpful approach, according to Feldgus, would be to do more on the front end, in the form of early coordination between the mining company, the land management agency, and the local community. He mentioned the BLM in Nevada as an example of a state office that has successfully reduced timelines, without increasing conflict, by doing more and better early coordination.

Gypsum mining in Wyoming, BLM Wyoming

“What we have found, what mining companies find, what academic researchers find, is the best way to ensure better permitting is to do more early on. Talk to people early, engage with them, find out what their concerns are,” Feldgus says. “And the earlier and the more meaningful you make that engagement, the better the permitting process works, because you’re removing sources of conflict that are what causes things to take a long time on the back end.” Feldgus also notes that it’s up to the mining industry to do more of this front-end work to secure local support for projects. Building relationships and trust over time isn’t something that can be legislated or regulated by the government, and attempts to do so turn into empty box-checking exercises.

So what role should the federal government be playing? Both Feldgus and Pleune point to policy proposals that would address some of the issues that are delaying responsible mining projects. Many of these are outlined in a September 2023 Interagency Working Group report on potential mining reforms, which offered 65 recommendations. In Feldgus’s view, the biggest change that would address many issues at once would be to shift mining to a leasing system, similar to what currently exists for other resources such as oil and gas, and to make mining subject to land management planning the way other resources already are. These changes would bring mining into long-term landscape-scale planning processes that would identify and address conflicts and concerns at the outset, develop a plan to address them, and provide greater certainty for both the mining industry and other stakeholders over the years or decades that a land management plan remains in place. However, Feldgus doesn’t believe a shift to a leasing system is realistic anytime soon.

Pleune also emphasizes the need for sufficient experienced staff to review mine plans, citing a body of research that identifies agency budgets, staffing, and coordination as significant challenges that actually delay permitting but that lawmakers are less interested in addressing. “Without adequate staff that have the necessary expertise, an efficient, productive regulatory regime is highly unlikely, regardless of statutory reforms,” Pleune writes. She also points out that permits, while maligned by the mining industry, are tools used to implement laws and regulations that were passed by Americans’ democratically-elected representatives. In other words, permits protect the values and protections that Americans want to see protected. Weakening or eliminating permitting systems will reduce the public’s trust in the regulatory environment, which will in turn increase public suspicion of the mining industry and opposition to mining projects. In other words, if the public doesn’t trust the process, they will reject the outcome. For this reason, deregulation is an unsound long-term strategy for the mining industry and could destroy the public support that projects need to move forward.

Featured image: Oak Flat in Arizona, near the site of a proposed copper mine; Elias Butler/CC BY-SA 4.0

The post Red tape isn’t the problem appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Nearly 320,000 acres of public land in northwest Arizona have been nominated for oil and gas leasing since January 2025, despite geologists saying the region has little to no known oil or gas reserves.

The nominations came from Zonaco, LLC, a shell company traced by the Arizona Republic to Rodney Ratheal, a Utah man who settled a 2012 SEC civil action alleging he raised more than $4 million from roughly 100 investors for an oil and gas scheme on the same stretch of federal land, then spent about $3 million of it on himself. Ratheal confirmed his identity to Arizona Republic reporters who showed up at his house. He told them he’s still working out how to finance the effort, targeting older investors who “understand this may be the last time they see their money.”

That opportunity for Ratheal to do this exists because of changes to the federal leasing process. The One Big Beautiful Bill eliminated the $5-per-acre nomination fee, required BLM to hold quarterly lease sales regardless of market demand, and opened nominations to essentially any bidder. Nominating 318,000 acres under the new rules cost Ratheal approximately nothing, but prior to the new rules, it would have cost about $1.59 million. About 80,000 of the nominated acres are now scheduled for auction in December.

The BLM is not equipped to screen out nominations like these. Arizona lost 24 percent of its BLM workforce in 2025, and the Arizona Strip Field Office is processing this leasing surge without a staff geologist. “The BLM just doesn’t have the people to do this correctly,” said Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Aaron Weiss. “Because now the law says the BLM has to offer anything that’s a valid nomination.”

Burgum doubles down on support for selling off public land, cuts partnerships to get Americans outdoors

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined RFK Jr. in Grand Junction, Colorado to promote public lands as a public health resource. The next day, the Interior department announced it was cutting 43 partnerships with groups that help get Americans outdoors, including internship programs, conservation initiatives, and recreational access partnerships. Burgum also used the appearance to defend Senator Mike Lee’s failed proposal to sell off 2-3 million acres of public land, telling the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel that “in America, you can do two things at the same time.”

Quick hits Trump opens up Pacific marine national monuments to commercial fishing

The Hill | Seattle Times | Hawaii News Now | PBS | Newsweek

Senate committee passes Mike Lee’s Roadless Rule repeal amendment

Salt Lake Tribune | MeatEater | Source NM | Outdoor Life | Missoula Current | More Than Just Parks | Cowboy State Daily

Inside America’s ugly birthday battle

The Atlantic

At least five states are bowing out of Trump’s ‘Great American State Fair’

CNN | NOTUS

At this New Mexico park, mountain bikers pedal amid hundreds of oil wells

Source NM

Interior puts wilderness study areas under scrutiny

National Parks Traveler | Sierra Sun Times

$103M in federal contracts flows to Freedom 250 events

Public Citizen

American Prairie, conservation groups appeal bison grazing decision

Daily Montanan

Quote of the day

The administration is saying one thing and doing another—touting the outdoors as crucial for physical and mental health while cutting programs that increase access to outdoor recreation.”

—Kate Groetzinger, Communications Director for the Center for Western Priorities

Picture This @nationalparkservice

Me: I hate drama. I stay out of it.
Also me at the first sign of it:

The Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), a year-round resident across much of the continental U.S., is the ultimate drama chaser. This bird is lightning fast and highly agile when pursuing prey through forests or even suburban neighborhoods: Speeds can exceed 50 mph (80 km/h) during a chase or when they fly over to the neighborhood Facebook page after hearing a loud noise outside. Fun fact: unlike falcons, which rely on high-speed dives, Cooper’s Hawks are masters of agility and acceleration, weaving between trees with jaw-dropping precision. Their long tail acts like a rudder, enabling sharp turns to snatch birds such as doves, robins, and starlings. The drama!

Image: Cooper’s Hawk peeking over the fort’s wall @castillonps in Florida.

 

Featured photo: Paiute Wilderness, in the northwest portion of the Arizona Strip. Bob Wick/BLM

The post Trump’s new drilling rules encourage leasing where there’s no oil appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Boone County, Nebraska Planning and Zoning Board is meeting on Monday, June 22 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss a proposed ordinance that would address CO2 pipelines in the county.

• WHAT: Public Meeting on CO2 Pipeline Ordinance
• WHO: Boone County, Nebraska Planning & Zoning Board
• WHEN: Monday, June 22, 7:30 p.m.
• WHERE: 222 South 4th St., Albion, NE, 68620

Landowners and residents of Boone County and others in the vicinity who want to protect property rights against eminent domain land seizures, and who oppose the risky Summit CO2 pipeline are encouraged to attend the meeting in person, and share their concerns.

Faced with the looming prospect of local landowners being targeted by Summit Carbon Solutions to obtain easements for its proposed risky CO2 pipeline, and potentially seeking to use eminent domain, elected leaders in Boone County are taking action to protect their community.

Last month, Boone County Commissioners held a public hearing to discuss a proposed moratorium on the construction of CO2 pipelines. Bold delivered a letter of support for the moratorium signed by over 150 Nebraskans during the hearing.

The move follows similar previous actions taken by neighboring counties. Stanton County unanimously denied Summit’s permit request in February 2024, and Dakota County tabled the company’s request in November 2025 and has since removed it from their agenda.

Bold Nebraska supported a bill introduced in the Nebraska Legislature in 2026, LB 916, which would have banned eminent domain for CO2 pipelines in Nebraska. Shelli Meyer, whose family’s land in Dixon County is threatened by the Summit pipeline, testified and Bold’s Founder Jane Kleeb also submitted testimony along with over 700 Nebraskans who wrote letters to their Senators urging them to support LB 916.

Bold will support another bill to ban eminent domain for CO2 pipelines next year.

“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.

The FIFA World Cup is here! Learn how you can get around to major summer 2026 events without a car, or being stuck in traffic with GoPhillyGo: Car-Free Routes Map!

Image Source: The Inquirer

The Inquirer: Philly has a new law to boost development around transit. Which neighborhoods will benefit? – City Council has approved a bill to incentivize denser and taller development around Philadelphia transit stations. City Council expanded the existing housing agenda to a quarter-mile radius around SEPTA rail, intercity bus stations, PATCO, water taxi, and some bus or trolley stops. However, the unique caveat making it different from other cities is that City Council must opt stations into the transit-oriented development policies. West Philadelphia representatives have opted in most Market Frankford Line stations, but no stops on the Broad Street Line have yet to be included. Factors making this difficult include different representative districts on the same transit lines and other political disagreements.

Image Source: WHYY

NBC Philadelphia: Safety, accessibility upgrades debut in along Market Street in Philly’s Old City – Ahead of the 250th celebrations in the city this summer, Market Street between 2nd and 6th has completed safety and accessibility improvements. Upgrades include new traffic and pedestrian signals, wider sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and accessible curb ramps. Improvements should continue across the city ahead of the 250th celebrations this summer.

Image Source: WHYY

BillyPenn: World Cup fans can take a hike — literally. Soccer enthusiasts in Philly can access Lemon Hill fan fest and other sites via trails – Philadelphia will host its first FIFA World Cup game this weekend, with an influx of fans heading to East Fairmount Park’s Lemon Hill. To avoid extreme traffic congestion and parking scarcities, the Circuit Trails Coalition is reminding the public of over 400 miles of trails in the greater Philadelphia area. The Schuylkill River Trail is 120 miles long, and fans can access many World Cup festivities without cars. Find other ways to access summer 2026 events with Clean Air Council’s GoPhillyGo: Car-Free Routes interactive map.

Other Stories

PhillyVoice: With the World Cup set to kick off, SEPTA touts refurbished stations and additional train capacity

The Inquirer: City Council bans horse-drawn carriages in Philadelphia

BillyPenn: First modular shelters arrive for eventual inclusion in Chinatown Stitch cap park

The Inquirer: SEPTA is expanding daily bus service to the Navy Yard by extending Route 45

CBS Pittsburgh: Parkway East will close in 1 month for Commercial Street Bridge replacement project

Anthropocene: A landmark MIT study debunks persistent myths about electric vehicles

PhillyVoice: Walmart plans to bring delivery drones to Philly in 2027

UK Oil & Gas is selling its stake in the troubled Horse Hill production site and licence, the company’s last remaining hydrocarbon interest.

Stephen Sanderson, chief executive of UK Oil & Gas plc. Photo: DrillOrDrop

The company announced in a statement today (12/6/26) it had agreed sell its entire 85.635% interest in Horse Hill and PEDL137 to energy B plc for £1m.

energy B, led by Neil Ritson, a former executive at Solo Oil and Leni Gas and Oil, has interests in bitcoins and wind turbines.

It said the deal was part of a wider strategy for energy B to “build a portfolio of oil and gas projects in the UK in support of UK energy security”. At the time of writing, energy B shares had risen more than 125%.

Today’s news coincides with the appointment of David Lenigas as energy B executive chairman. This will be his second direct involvement in Horse Hill.

Mothballed

Horse Hill, near Redhill in Surrey, has been suspended since October 2024 after the Supreme Court stripped planning permission five months earlier in a landmark climate ruling.

The court judgement, known as the Finch Ruling, was the culmination of six years of legal action against oil production at Horse Hill by Sarah Finch and the campaign network, Weald Action Group.

The site, once nicknamed the Gatwick Gusher, has not lived up to its operator’s predictions of North Sea levels of oil extraction.

In 2015, UKOG described the oil discovery at Horse Hill in Surrey as “world class” and that the Weald in southern England could produce 100 billion barrels of oil. It later issued two clarifications to the London Stock Exchange.

In the last full six months of production, Horse Hill recorded an average of 30 barrels of oil a day, according to official records. The UK’s biggest producing field, at Wytch Farm in Dorset, extracted an average of 9,802 barrels of oil a day over the same period.

UKOG’s move from oil and gas

Today’s announcement marks the end of UKOG’s current interest in hydrocarbon extraction.

In 2015, the company had direct interests in the Avington and Horndean oil fields in Hampshire, Baxter’s Copse and Markwells Wood in West Sussex, the Holmwood prospect in Surrey and an offshore licence near the Isle of Wight. It also had indirect interests in the Brockham oilfield in Surrey and the Lidsey field in West Sussex.

A year later, UKOG acquired the Broadford Bridge site in West Sussex and the PEDL234 licence straddling the border with Surrey. It was also awarded PEDL331 onshore on the Isle of Wight but failed to get planning permission for a proposed site at Arreton.

In 2019, UKOG revealed plans for a new site near Dunsfold in Surrey. It finally got planning permission in June 2022 after an appeal. But no work was carried out at the site and DrillOrDrop understands the planning permission has now expired.

In recent years, UKOG has switched its interest to hydrogen storage. Last month, the company reported declining assets and revenue. The most recent annual accounts confirmed that Horse Hill was then the company’s sole remaining oil and gas site.

Stephen Sanderson, UKOG’s chief executive, said today:

“Whilst the Company recognises that potentially material resources likely remain within HH [Horse Hill], this divestment presents a timely and attractive opportunity to complete UKOG’s exit from the UK onshore oil & gas sector, freeing our team and resources to focus upon our two material UK salt cavern energy storage projects and new international energy opportunities under active review.

“We wish energy B well in its future stewardship of Horse Hill and in realising its ambition to deliver the field’s full remaining potential.”

UKOG’s stake in Horse Hill is divided between subsidiaries.

It holds 77.9% of shares in the site operator, Horse Hill Developments Limited. UKOG (137/246) has a 35% working interest in Horse Hill.

At the time of writing, the UKOG share price was down 2.56%.

Executives return to Horse Hill

Both David Lenigas and Neil Ritson have had previous interests in Horse Hill.

Mr Lenigas was chairman of UK Oil and Gas Investments until July 2015. Four years later, he left Doriemus, which had a 4% stake in Horse Hill.

He said today:

“This is an incredibly exciting project and important for future of UK energy sovereignty. Not only is there a great deal of oil at Horse Hill, but there is also a lot of gas in this very live, shallow and extensive hydrocarbon system. That gas has historically been flared over the last decade, gas that could have been used to power or heat UK homes.

“The initial flow rates at Horse Hill were incredible but obstacles existed to fully assessing the true potential of the 500m thick oil-laden Kimmeridge limestones identified by some of the biggest independent oil consultancies in the world at the time.

“Only a few of the oil sequences in the Kimmeridge were tested in 2016 testing program. Time constraints limited the ability to test the Kimmeridge’s ultimate flow potential and less than 20% of the Kimmeridge interval was tested back in 2016.

“With the oil and gas window at Horse Hill being relatively shallow compared to the hydrocarbons in the North Sea, this project and many other onshore projects in the UK offer a highly credible solution to assist with the domestic energy crisis.

“Whilst many right now are vacating the oil and gas sector in the UK, we aim to go against the tide with energy B.”

Neil Ritson, chief executive of energy B, was chairman of Solo Oil when it had interests in Horse Hill, more than 10 years ago.

Solo Oil disposed of its stake in Horse Hill in 2018.

Mr Ritson said today:

“I am delighted to present shareholders of energy B with an opportunity to develop the Company as an onshore oil and gas participant, alongside the green energy technology being developed around the HFI patented wind turbine.

“The UK is on a path to net zero, however, we need to recognise that oil and gas will remain part of the energy mix for decades to come.  Importing foreign gas and oil; often with a much higher carbon footprint than indigenous supplies, is environmentally and economically unsound.

“We hope to bring Horse Hill back on to production as soon as possible and to develop its greater potential as a springboard.”

energy B said it was withdrawing from its Bitcoin treasury strategy. The company is listed on the UK’s Aquis Stock Exchange, which specialises in growth and entrepreneurial companies.

Deal details

energy B said it had entered into a share purchase agreement with UKOG for £1m. The deal gives energy B 100% of UKOG (137/246) and 77.9% of Horse Hill Developments Limited.

The purchase has been funded by an energy B share placing, which raised £1.2m. Some of the proceeds will be used to provide working capital, including payment of existing creditors, energy B said.

The agreement must be approved by the industry regulator and energy B’s shareholders.

Planning

UKOG announced more than a month ago that it had applied for planning permission to restart oil production at Horse Hill.

At the time of writing, Surrey County Council had still not published the application or begun a public consultation. DrillOrDrop understood this had been due this week. We will report when this happens.

At Broadford Bridge, another UKOG site where planning permission has lapsed, the company said it had plugged and abandoned the two wells. But the site has still not been restored to farmland, required b a condition of the permission. We continue to follow what happens at Broadford Bridge.

Incredible news: the attempt to undo the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan has failed! Together, we have defeated the efforts of Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Celeste Maloy (R-UT-02)! This is a major victory for the entire Protect Wild Utah movement, public lands advocates across the country, and most importantly, the landscape itself.

How did we get here? In March, Sen. Lee and Rep. Maloy introduced “joint resolutions” to disapprove the monument management plan. They did this using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a little-known law with a provision that allows Congress to pass a CRA joint resolution by simple majority votes—but the Senate must act within 60 session days. Thursday, June 11, was Day 60, so Lee’s resolution is now subject to the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster and we are confident it will not pass.

I couldn’t be prouder of SUWA’s national network of activists and our whole-of-organization response to this unprecedented attack. For all of 2026, defeating the Grand Staircase-Escalante CRA resolution has been our #1 priority. SUWA’s remarkable grassroots organizing team led efforts to reach persuadable members of Congress, fanning out across the country and working with members and supporters to hold in-district meetings with congressional staff. We became experts in arcane congressional procedures. We worked with the Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition and brought Tribal leaders, alongside grassroots activists and local business owners, to Washington, DC. We coordinated with friends in the conservation and recreation communities. SUWA’s Utah-based staff were frequent visitors to Washington, working day in and day out with our DC Team.

We gave it 110%, week after week, month and month, grinding away while the odds were stacked against us—with the Republicans controlling the House, the Senate, and the White House. This outcome was far from guaranteed; Republicans used the CRA six other times during this Congress to undo land management plans and a seventh time to undo a protective mineral withdrawal at the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. But love for Grand Staircase-Escalante was strong and opposition to what Lee and Maloy were trying was widespread and overwhelming, across Utah and nationwide (see this webpage for highlights).

We are also clear-eyed: while we’ve defeated one major attack, both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, as well as the rest of the redrock wilderness, remain under attack from the Trump administration and Congress. But what we’ve said before bears repeating: SUWA has never backed down from a hard fight, and we’re not going to start now.

By raising your voice in opposition to Lee and Maloy you made a difference. We’re going to keep calling on you—your voice and advocacy will continue to be crucial in defending the wild public lands that inspire, heal, and renew us in the best and worst of times. Powered by love and hope, we know that we can still make the critical difference to protect the places and values that matter. Together, we just did! And we’ll continue to do so.

Thank you for standing with Grand Staircase-Escalante and SUWA at this critical moment. Take time to celebrate the important victory we just achieved together. And if you’re able, please consider financially supporting our work.

For Grand Staircase-Escalante,

Scott Braden

SUWA Executive Director
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

The post Breaking News: Mike Lee Fails, Grand Staircase-Escalante Protections Remain in Place! appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

June 12, 2026

Senator Lee’s Attempt to Fast-track Attack on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan Fails Opposition from across Utah and the nation leads to failure of Senator Lee’s efforts to attack one of the nation’s iconic national monuments

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Keri Gilliland, Communications Manager, The Wilderness Society; (303) 386-2243; kgilliland@tws.org 
Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, (202) 792-6211, pwheeler@earthjustice.org 
Tim Peterson, Cultural Landscapes Director, Grand Canyon Trust; (801) 550-9861; tpeterson@grandcanyontrust.org 
Andrew Scibetta, NRDC, (202) 289-2421; ascibetta@nrdc.org
Kris Deutschman, Conservation Lands Foundation, 505-498-0212; kris@conservationlands.org
Brian Willis, Sierra Club; 202-253-7486; brian.willis@sierraclub.org
Caitlyn Burford, Senior Communications Manager, National Parks Conservation Association, cburford@npca.org, 541-371-6452
Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org

Washington, DC – Senator Mike Lee’s (R-UT) effort to fast-track an attack on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) has failed. The CRA includes a provision that allows the Senate to pass a “joint resolution of disapproval” targeting an administrative action via a simple majority, but it must act within 60 Senate session days after that action is entered into the Congressional Record. Thursday, June 11, was day 60, meaning Senator Lee’s resolution is now subject to the 60-vote filibuster should he attempt to bring it up for consideration. This setback of Senator Lee’s attack on the monument comes the same week as the anniversary of the Antiquities Act, which was used to protect the 1.9-million-acre landscape.

The elected officials leading the effort to attack the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan, Senator Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT-02), were some of the same members behind the 2025 failed public lands sell-off attempts. Then, as now, their ideas are deeply unpopular and have been fiercely opposed. If the CRA resolution were to pass, the management plan – which sets expectations for how these remarkable public lands will be managed for recreation, camping and outdoor access; collaboration with Tribal Nations; dark night skies; grazing and other uses – would be undone, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would be barred from issuing another plan that is “substantially the same” in the future. This assault on a national monument marked a significant escalation in Congress’ use of the CRA and – if it had been successful – would have led to chaos on the ground. 

“Senator Mike Lee’s misguided attack on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has failed. This is a major victory for the millions of Americans who care deeply about the Grand Staircase and for everyone who supports our nation’s wildest public lands and want to see them protected,” said Scott Braden, Executive Director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “While together we’ve defeated one major attack, both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, as well as the rest of the redrock wilderness in Utah, remain under attack from the Trump Administration and this Republican Congress. The lesson for politicians is clear: Americans cherish their public lands and want to see them conserved for current and future generations to enjoy, not attacked and exploited.”

“Just like the defeat of Senator Lee’s unpopular public land sell-off attempt last year, the dearth of support for this attack on Grand Staircase – Escalante reflects Americans’ fierce love for our public lands,” said Thomas Delehanty, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “No one except extractive industry CEOs wants these special places destroyed. Senator Lee and Representative Maloy should take note.”

“The Utah delegation knows that our national monuments are well-loved by Americans and protecting them is overwhelmingly popular among Utahns regardless of party affiliation,” said Tim Peterson, Cultural Landscapes Director at the Grand Canyon Trust. “The public would not have stood for legislation that gets rid of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument outright, so the Utah delegation tried to eliminate the commonsense management plan that affords day-to-day protections to the monument. We’re so grateful that didn’t happen.”

“Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy’s failed attempt to overturn the Grand Staircase- Escalante land-use plan was out of step with what Americans want,” said Axie Navas, director of designation campaigns at The Wilderness Society. “The current plan, built on years of engagement with Tribes and local communities, balances the freedom to recreate with traditional uses and conservation in a way that benefits all. The public has made it clear they want these lands protected—and managed—so that future generations may experience Grand Staircase-Escalante as we do today.”    

“Grand Staircase-Escalante’s protections are still standing today because people would not let them fall,” said Bobby McEnaney, Director of Land Conservation, NRDC. “This was never really about land management. It was an attempt to make it easier to dismantle every national monument in the country, and that threat has not gone anywhere. Tribes, local communities, and voters saw this attack for what it was and spoke up. We owe it to them, and to the generations who will inherit these lands, to stay in this fight for as long as it takes.”

“While this is a welcome pause, we have no reason to believe Sen. Lee will stop his attack on the country’s national monuments and Grand Staircase,” said Chris Hill, CEO of the Conservation Lands Foundation. “Tens of thousands of people registered their opposition to this particular Congressional power grab–as hundreds of thousands have done over the past several years in support of conserving the country’s public lands. Local communities, business owners, and Tribes support and rely on the balanced management of national monuments and the overwhelming majority of voters in Utah and across western states want their Congress members to protect these places, not sell them off. We are here to make sure that Sen. Lee and other anti-public lands members of Congress cannot ignore the fact that Americans of all political identities don’t want what they’re selling and are fighting like hell to stop it.”

“Today, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument management plan will remain intact, and that’s a testament to the chorus of voices that showed up to protect this incredible landscape from attacks in Congress,” said Cory MacNulty, Southwest Campaign Director for the National Parks Conservation Association. “This management plan is more than a policy document. It reflects years of engagement with communities, Tribes and stakeholders to shape how the monument would be cared for. We know this monument, and all monuments across the nation, still face threats from Congress and the administration. But this is a reminder that public lands should reflect all of us, and people on both sides of the political aisle will continue to show up to protect them.”

“This outcome is bigger than one monument,” said Athan Manuel, Director of Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program. “Had this effort succeeded, it would have created a dangerous roadmap for dismantling management plans and undermining protections for public lands across the country. Instead, the broad coalition that came together to defend Grand Staircase-Escalante proved once again that Americans will unite to protect the places that belong to all of us. This failed fast-track attack should serve as a warning to anyone looking to weaken our public lands: people are paying attention, and they are prepared to fight back.”

“Veterans and military families understand what it means to protect something that belongs to all Americans. The failure of Senator Mike Lee’s attempt to fast-track an attack on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is an important victory for those who believe our public lands should remain public. Places like Grand Staircase-Escalante are part of our shared national heritage and serve as places where veterans heal, reconnect with their families, recreate, and continue serving their communities. While we are encouraged to see this effort fall short, the broader threats facing Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bears Ears, and other treasured public lands remain very real. Veterans will continue standing up for these places because they are worth protecting for future generations, just as they were for ours.” — Janessa Goldbeck, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and CEO, Vet Voice Foundation

“Lee’s attempt to weaponize the Congressional Review Act to strip protections from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was an affront to all Americans and I’m thrilled he failed,” said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Like Grand Canyon and Zion, this iconic landscape and its extraordinary animals deserve permanent protection, not to be used as political pawns.” 

A compilation of opposition to the use of the CRA on Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument Management Plan can be found here; some highlights include:

• Inter-tribal Coalition members call for stop to proposal to use Congressional Review Act (CRA) to harm Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
  
• The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) issued a statement and the Navajo Utah Commission of the Navajo Nation Council issued a resolution opposing the use of the CRA resolution.

• Over 40 local businesses in gateway communities like Boulder, Escalante, Tropic, Cannonville, Kanab, and Page (AZ) support the Monument. Local business owners respond in this video montage after Rep. Maloy claimed the 2025 Management plan is bad for business.

• Faith Leaders across Utah and the American West oppose the use of the CRA, as do over 125 local, state, and national groups, and over 150 scientists.
  
• The Salt Lake Tribune, the Grand Junction Sentinel, the Durango Herald, the Las Vegas Sun, the Arizona Daily Star, and the Idaho Statesman have editorialized against the CRA and in support of the Monument. Letters to the editor have gone into papers across the country; particular powerful op-eds include “The strike on Grand Staircase is a strike on my culture and my history” by Autumn Gillard; “Stop Trying to Utah our Nevada” by Dackota York; “GOP leaders say local interests were ignored in the Grand Staircase-Escalante planning process. That’s not what I saw” by Erik Stanfield; “A Utah Monument Comes Under Attack – Again” by Stephen Trimble; and “Congress in gunning for a National Monument in Utah” by Scott Braden. 

About Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument & the Monument Management Plan

Since its establishment, heightened protections for the Monument’s geology, paleontology, wildlife, plant communities, and ancestral sites have succeeded in preserving these unique values for generations to come, and local communities on the Monument’s doorstep have benefited as well. Nearly 30 years later, the numerous benefits of protecting Grand Staircase-Escalante are clear: the Monument preserves a remarkable ecosystem at the landscape level and sets the stage for future discovery about human, paleontological, and geological history on the Colorado Plateau. 

On December 4, 2017, President Trump ignored millions of public comments and unlawfully eliminated large swaths of the Monument, slashing it by 47 percent – roughly 900,000 acres. Thankfully, on October 8, 2021, President Biden signed a proclamation restoring Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to its full, original boundaries. In 2023, BLM began developing a new management plan for the full Monument. As a part of that work, the BLM engaged in extensive outreach to Tribal Nations, the State of Utah, local governments, stakeholders (including local outfitters, guides, ranchers, and utilities), and the public. During the planning process, BLM received overwhelming support from throughout Utah and the nation for a holistic, conservation-based management plan worthy of this remarkable place.

In August 2023, a Federal District Court Judge in Utah dismissed lawsuits brought by the state of Utah and others challenging President Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act to restore the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. The state and other plaintiffs quickly appealed that decision to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held oral argument on September 26, 2024, and may issue a decision at any time. Conservation organizations intervened on behalf of the United States to defend President Biden’s restoration of the Monuments, as have four Tribal nations.

National monuments are overwhelmingly popular.Seventy-five percent of Utah voters support the President’s ability to protect public lands as national monuments. Three in four Utah voters, including a majority of Republicans, want to keep Grand Staircase-Escalante as a national monument.

About the Congressional Review Act (CRA)

The CRA is a federal statute enacted in March 1996 that requires federal agencies to submit “rules” to Congress for a mandatory review period “before they may take effect.” If Congress votes to overturn, or “disapprove,” the rule, it “may not be reissued in substantially the same form. . . .” The BLM has long maintained that its land management plans are not “rules” subject to the CRA. Other federal land management agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service, have similarly not submitted their land management plans to Congress under the CRA.

However, emboldened by a series of non-binding Government Accountability Office (GAO) opinions, Republican members of Congress have embraced the novel theory that federal land management plans are in fact “rules” subject to the CRA. This year, Congress has passed seven CRA resolutions overturning previously finalized land management plans or other types of public lands management decisions.  The GAO issued an opinion regarding the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument Management Plan on January 15, 2026.

• While overturning the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument management plan would not change the boundaries of the monument or alter President Biden’s proclamation establishing the monument, it is a serious threat with potential implications for all national monuments. 
• Monument management plans set expectations for how the land will be managed for wildlife, outdoor access, dark night skies, grazing, and other uses. The Utah delegation’s gambit threatens that certainty. Using the CRA to overturn the Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan disregards years of public input on how these lands are managed for the public, including hunters, hikers, scientists, ranchers, and others who hold permits to use public lands inside the monument.
• Congress is ignoring Tribal Nations. Multiple Native American Tribes are connected to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition advocates for the conservation of their ancestral lands and for the continued protection and preservation of the cultural and environmental resources found within the monument. Tribes provide deeply valuable perspectives related to the management of Monument lands and cultural resources that tell the story of their peoples, and are integral to the history of the United States, and should be consulted before any changes are made to the Monument’s management plan.

Additional Information

• March 4, 2026 Press Release – Senator Lee, Rep. Maloy Introduce Joint Resolution to Undo Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan 
• February 26, 2026 Press Release – Senator Lee formally begins process to fast-track the destruction of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah 
• The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Inter-Tribal Coalition who have spoken against using the CRA on the Monument Management Plan

###

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.

 

 

The post Senator Lee’s Attempt to Fast-track Attack on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan Fails appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

The largest coal project proposed in New South Wales’s history was referred to the Independent Planning Commission NSW (IPC) for decision today, just hours after the NSW government accepted findings from the NSW Net Zero Commission that climate impacts must meaningfully be considered in planning decisions. 

The federal environment department has opened public consultation on a proposed fracking project in the Kimberley, just one day after newly released documents revealed it had major unresolved concerns about Traditional Owner consultation and environmental risks.

A Montana-based engineering firm whose leadership donated more than $1 million to President Donald Trump’s campaigns has been awarded more than $7 billion in federal border wall contracts. That includes nearly $2 billion to build over a hundred miles of wall through the Big Bend region in Texas.

High Country News reported that Barnard Construction and its affiliates have received more than $5.6 billion in border construction contracts in Trump’s second term. Records show chairman Tim Barnard and his wife donated $1 million to a Trump campaign fundraising committee in 2024. Barnard’s largest single award, a $1.6 billion contract for 112.5 miles of wall in eastern New Mexico, was granted without competitive bidding, citing “urgency” as the justification. “What was so urgent that they couldn’t bid it to other contractors that are already on the pre-approved list?” said Scott Amey, a lawyer who investigates federal contracts for the Project On Government Oversight.

In May, a competing contractor sued the Trump administration after CBP sent roughly 73% of new Texas border wall contracts to just two firms, Barnard and North Dakota-based Fisher Sand & Gravel, arguing the process lacked competitive opportunities. Barnard did not respond to requests for comment from High Country News.

Border wall construction in the Big Bend region has drawn widespread, bipartisan opposition. The region accounts for just 1.6% of southern border apprehensions this fiscal year, and DHS has waived dozens of environmental and cultural regulations to fast-track construction there. In March, five Texas county sheriffs urged the federal government to reconsider, warning the infrastructure would “permanently alter one of the most remote and ecologically significant border landscapes in the United States.”

Report: The 119th Congress’ Anti-parks Caucus

A new report from the Center for American Progress identifies 25 members of Congress as the driving force behind 65 of the 81 anti-conservation bills introduced in the 119th Congress. The Trump administration has already implemented several Antiparks Caucus proposals, including rescinding the BLM Public Lands Rule and revoking the Chaco withdrawal.

Quick hits What will change at Utah’s ‘Little Grand Canyon’ after state and BLM sign landmark management agreement

Salt Lake Tribune

Senators demand answers on Trump’s use of national park fees

The Hill | E&E News | Washington Post

2027 may be a disaster for public lands if this funding bill passes

GearJunkie

Lawsuit filed against USFWS over proposed wildlife refuge land swap with SpaceX

E&E News | Associated Press

Trump officials lay out aggressive timeline to build triumphal arch

Washington Post | Associated Press

Opinion: A land deal that is failing the people who live on the land

Anchorage Daily News

Federal parks program gets good news after an uncertain year

GearJunkie

Trump administration asks judge to reject bid to halt White House UFC event

The Hill | UPI

Quote of the day

The lack of transparency around awards for these beautification projects, as well as the loss in revenue meant for the maintenance and betterment of our national parks threatens the public’s trust and the long-term integrity of our nation’s most beloved public lands.”

—Letter to Interior secretary Doug Burgum, signed by 11 U.S. senators

Picture This @whitesandsnps

What’s Bloomin’?

The pale evening primrose (Oenothera pallida ssp. Runcinata) is thriving along our Backcountry Loop Trail! This beautiful white flower, with its showy yellow pistils, provides both food and shelter to a variety of pollinators in the park.

As always, when viewing the flowers in the park, please be sure to take only pictures and leave the plants intact for others to enjoy!

Photo: NPS/Paige G.

 

Featured photo: Big Bend National Park, Texas. Ralf Kiepert/CC BY-SA 3.0

The post Contracting firm run by Trump donor is building the border wall through Big Bend appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

This week, experts provided witness testimony before the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) Administrative Hearings Office, debunking arguments that the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) will not further degrade water quality in the Delta. 

Key testimony by Dr. David A. Caron, Professor at the University of Southern California, Associates Captain Allan Hancock Endowed Chair in Marine Science, and President and Chief Executive Officer of BlueWater Science, provided insights on how the construction of the DCP could stimulate and expand the geographical distribution and severity of Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (CHABs) in the Delta.

Dr. Caron highlights that testimony provided by Dr. Ellen Preece, Environmental Program Manager of the California Department of Water Resources, “inappropriately downplays the potential for the DCP to exacerbate the existing CHAB problems in the Delta or lead to new areas of CHAB occurrence.” The presence of CHABs in the Delta is not a linear question, but rather is impacted by the multitude of stressors that would be exacerbated by the DCP. Dr. Caron stresses that we are nearing a tipping point, and the DCP could be what sends our Delta ecosystems over the edge. 

Restore the Delta calls on the State Water Resources Control Board Administrative Hearing Officer (AHO) to prevent DWR from continuing to underplay the significant impacts the Delta Tunnel would have in exacerbating harmful algal blooms and to acknowledge the ongoing CHAB problems in the Delta that could lead to new areas of CHAB occurrence.

Watch the full direct testimony here. 

###

DENVER—Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce were in Grand Junction on Wednesday for a “roundtable with community outdoor recreation and health figures in promotion of the departments’ collaboration on the intersection of public land access, physical activity and public health outcomes,” according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. 

According to the Sentinel, Burgum was asked about public land selloff and downplayed the significance of selling off 2-3 million acres of public land:

Burgum was asked about his previous advocacy for selling off two to three million acres of BLM and Forest Service land and how this contrasts with current efforts to expand public land access. He responded that, in America, “you can do two things at the same time,” noting that the few million acres mentioned are a small portion of the approximately 525 million acres of Forest Service, BLM and National Park Service lands.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Communications Director Kate Groetzinger: 

“It’s shocking that Secretary Burgum is still defending Mike Lee’s failed public land sell-off attempt. The entire country—including hunters, anglers, and conservative lawmakers—adamantly rejected Lee’s attempt to sell off national public lands last year. We know that Burgum’s office helped Lee write talking points for his failed gambit to privatize public lands, and the fact that Burgum is still pushing it shows the fight is not over. Clearly Doug Burgum still wants to sell off our public lands.”

Also at the roundtable Wednesday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the power of nature to improve Americans’ health. The Sentinel wrote:

“Burgum said in a press conference after the roundtable that some participating physicians suggested that the government adopt language that it’s ‘prescribing’ Americans with ‘vitamin N’ for ‘nature’ to get them active outside.

“‘We need to get kids outdoors. Particularly, we need to connect them to the wilderness. The wilderness is a seminal experience for American kids and has been since our nation was founded,’ Kennedy said.”

Despite this acknowledgement, the Interior department announced today via Fox News that it is cutting 43 partnerships with outside groups it says no longer align with the Trump administration’s priorities. These include internship programs, conservation initiatives, research projects, and cooperative partnerships to get Americans outside.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Communications Director Kate Groetzinger: 

“Cutting partnerships that help get Americans outdoors during Great Outdoors Month is shameful and cruel. The administration is saying one thing and doing another—touting the outdoors as crucial for physical and mental health while cutting programs that increase access to outdoor recreation. Doug Burgum should put his money where his mouth is and expand federal partnerships that help Americans get outside, not cut them.”

Learn more:

• The Secretary of the Interior has a Yellowstone Club problem – Westwise
• Trump’s Interior Dept. Crafted Talking Points For Mike Lee’s Public Land Sell-Off Scheme – Public Domain
• 2026 Conservation in the West poll – Colorado College State of the Rockies Project

Featured image: @SecretaryBurgum

The post Burgum doubles down on support for selling off public land, cuts partnerships to get Americans outdoors appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to designate the High Desert Trail, a roughly 810-mile off-road vehicle (ORV) route running north to south across western Utah.

The trail is meant to drive ORV users and groups to some of the most remote areas of western Utah. In Washington County, the proposed route would thread a narrow passage between the designated Cougar Canyon and Slaughter Creek Wilderness Areas, continue through the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area (NCA), and terminate in “Zone 6” of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve near St. George—a world-class recreation area and important habitat for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise.

The BLM’s 15-day comment window ends on Tuesday, June 16. Please tell the agency to reroute the High Desert Trail away from wilderness, tortoise habitat, and the Beaver Dam Wash NCA. 

As currently proposed, the High Desert Trail would push a highly promoted ORV route through one of the most sensitive landscapes in southwestern Utah. Even though the trail does not technically enter wilderness (it follows a narrow “cherrystem” route between two wilderness areas), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the agency to take a hard look at real-world impacts to wilderness character, solitude, quiet, wildlife, and adjacent wilderness-quality lands.

The BLM’s Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) also makes clear that designation of this trail is intended to increase use. In fact, the agency expects use to increase by about 30 to 40 percent in the first one to three years. More promotion, more traffic, and more organized use will mean more noise, dust, user conflict, and greater pressure on nearby wilderness, cultural resources, and tortoise habitat.

Importantly, the BLM is considering two crucial reroutes—Colie Flat and Manganese Road—which would avoid bisecting wilderness areas, bypass most Mojave desert tortoise critical habitat, steer clear of the Beaver Dam Wash NCA, and mitigate user conflicts in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve by relocating the route’s terminus at Manganese Wash, near Gunlock Reservoir, instead of in Zone 6.

Urge the BLM to reject any route that fails to protect wilderness, the Beaver Dam Wash NCA, and Mojave desert tortoise habitat.

This proposal is not just about a line on a map. The High Desert Trail is being planned as a continuous, promoted, point-to-point ORV route across western Utah, complete with signage, maps, kiosks, and coordinated permitting designed to increase travel and visitation. The BLM should not route this trail through wilderness-adjacent lands and some of the most ecologically sensitive parts of Washington County when a less damaging alternative is already available.

Click here to submit your comments by June 16

The post Tell BLM to Keep the High Desert Trail Away from Wilderness and Critical Tortoise Habitat appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

The short letter below was sent to Governor Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson this morning.

June 10, 2026

Honorable Josh Stein
Governor of North Carolina

Cc: Attorney General Jeff Jackson

Subject: World Court Requires Your Urgent Action vs Duke Energy as Wars Accelerate a Global Shift Away from Fossil Fuels

Dear Governor Stein,

As North Carolina communities brace for hurricane and heatwave season and scientists escalate their warnings that global warming is passing limits deemed critical for human survival, two major transitions now underway provide a vital opportunity for a genuine phase out of fossil fuels. Both require your personal action and would finally begin to shift North Carolina from being a key driver of climate change to joining those doing all possible to avert ecological and social chaos.

1)    The United Nations overwhelmingly supported a World Court decision stating that governments – including governors such as yourself – have a legal obligation to act in response to the climate crisis and, in Greenpeace International’s words, to “regulate businesses on the harm caused by their emissions.” Only the US and 7 other countries opposed the measure.

2)    Although the ongoing wars in the Middle East continue to cause horrific suffering, energy experts see ironic implications for the climate crisis. The prolonged disruption of oil and methane gas markets – which has accelerated since the Russia-Ukraine war began – is boosting “demand destruction,” a permanent shift to renewable energy sources that was already well-underway in many parts of the world – but not in North Carolina.

In other words, the world community is gradually becoming more clearly delineated between climate leaders and corporate laggards and their enablers. A clean energy transition is underway in many nations; globally, renewable power sources grew fast enough to meet all new electricity demand in 2025 without an increase in generation from fossil fuels.

Despite the encouraging progress in many countries, broader leadership is still gravely needed – and legally required, according to the UN’s World Court – to ensure that polluting corporations in rich countries don’t “wring every last drop of profit … even if it destroys the earth while denying their impending obsolescence,” as journalist Rebecca Solnit writes.

As you well know but have not acknowledged publicly, Duke Energy executives are planning the largest US expansion of gas-fired power generation, an enormous 12,300 megawatts. Scientists have for several years pressed you to lead a major change in Duke’s climate-wrecking trajectory: its gamble of public dollars on fossil fuels and failure-prone nuclear plants and suppression of solar and wind.

Duke Energy’s latest pause in developing large scale solar has been wrongly characterized as an “order” by the NC Utilities Commission. As you know, Duke has long dominated our state government and has traditionally gotten nearly everything it wants from the captive regulators.

Together, Duke Energy leaders and regulators continue to limit large-scale solar. Even worse, they continue to block the vast and virtually untapped potential for local solar-plus-storage (SPS) even though it could readily replace current and future fossil fueled electricity in the state; as NC WARN’s Sharing Solar proposal shows, rooftop/parking lot SPS would be the fastest, cheapest and most equitable way to replace coal and gas.

We urge you once again to use your enormous public voice to be honest with the people of our state: stop joining Duke Energy in claiming that NC has curbed greenhouse gas emissions. That gross deception hinges on ignoring the super-potent heat-trapping methane that is central to Duke Energy’s ongoing expansion of climate- and community-wrecking fossil fuels.

This is a golden opportunity for you to finally provide hope to those being buffeted by extreme weather events and soaring power bills – two sides of the same coin fueled by Duke Energy’s business model of building high-cost, high-risk power plants that are not needed.

Governor Stein, dozens of scientists, hundreds of businesses and nonprofits and leaders of communities being devastated by extreme weather have called for you to act. Now the UN World Court has required you to take action, and its order is enforceable in North Carolina.

Instead of continuing to escalate our criticism, NC WARN remains eager to join with you to help this state do our genuine duty to counter the escalating threat to all life on Earth.

Sincerely,

Jim Warren
Executive Director

The post Letter: World Court Requires Governor’s Urgent Action vs Duke Energy as Wars Accelerate a Global Shift Away from Fossil Fuels appeared first on NC WARN.

A new investigation from ProPublica and Re:Public reveals that Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana was pushing to eliminate Forest Service airworthiness inspections for firefighting aircraft at the same time his former company, Bridger Aerospace, was failing one.

In April 2025, a Forest Service inspector found a crack in the wing of a Bridger scooper the company had presented as ready for fire season. That same month, a draft executive order eliminating the inspection program leaked from Sheehy’s Senate office. Metadata on the document showed it had been edited by one of Sheehy’s policy advisers and a lobbyist for Bridger. At the time, Sheehy held between $13 and $15 million in Bridger stock. The Forest Service has paid Bridger more than $235 million for scooper contracts since 2021.

The crack discovered by the inspection could have been catastrophic had it not been discovered. In fact, the Forest Service’s modern inspection program, which Sheehy proposed to eliminate, was built in response to two fatal tanker crashes in 2002 that were caused by similar undetected wing cracks. Current and former Forest Service officials told reporters that Bridger has resisted the agency’s inspections. A Sheehy spokesperson called the inspection program “a relic of a bygone era and an unnecessary barrier to asset availability.”

The draft executive order was also shaped by the United Aerial Firefighters Association, an industry group Sheehy helped found in 2022. When Sheehy moved his Bridger stock into blind trusts earlier this year, he entrusted them to executives at an energy infrastructure company formerly run by his brother, also a significant Bridger investor. Cynthia Brown, senior ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told ProPublica that selecting a family member’s company “appears to do that exact thing that the rules mean to prohibit.”

Quick hits National park visitors rebuffed Burgum’s pitch to police history

E&E News | National Parks Traveler | Associated Press

Political reviews are causing a huge grant backlog at the National Park Service

NOTUS

Lawmakers inquire about Forest Service spraying roundup on public lands

Mother Jones

White House to tap California water expert for Bureau of Reclamation

E&E News | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Opinion: The US government is pillaging our national forests from within

The Hill

Proposed Trump rule targets ‘woke’ federal grants for public lands, health, science

KQED

Senators demand answers on Trump’s use of national park fees

Washington Post

The last working pay phone in Yellowstone National Park is dead

Cowboy State Daily

Quote of the day

This is a dangerous arena to get into, where the forever business of NASA, NOAA or NPS are all now on the whims of political appointees and the shifting political tides. This is not how things were intended to be done.”

—Jesse Chakrin, executive director of Fund for People in Parks, KQED

Picture This @interior

Interior be like “I know a spot,” and then take you somewhere that looks like another planet.

Moonscape Overlook in Utah sits high above a maze of colorful badlands, ridges, and winding desert terrain managed by @mypubliclands. It’s the kind of place that reminds you just how wild and vast America’s public lands really are.

We manage millions of acres of public lands across the country, including places that still feel completely untamed. Some are famous. Others are hidden at the end of dusty backroads somewhere out in the middle of the desert. Those are usually the spots worth remembering.

Photo by Susan Hartman

Featured photo: Scooper plane dumps water on wildfire, Washington DNR

The post Senator pushed to cut firefighting aircraft inspections as his company’s aircraft failed one appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The Lock the Gate Alliance is calling on the NSW Government to act urgently on coal, after a new report from the NSW Net Zero Commission revealed that climate change could lead to 290,000 fewer jobs in NSW by 2070.

by Derf Johnson “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” – Rahm Emmanuel Anyone with even a dab of political sense knows the benefits of a “crisis” in terms of accomplishing administration …

The post MEIC Challenges Trump’s “Energy Emergency” EO at Bull Mountain Mine appeared first on Montana Environmental Information Center - MEIC.

Last week, AB 2218, authored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra, unanimously passed the California State Assembly, a move toward ensuring state water policy aligns with Tribal rights, stewardship, and justice. The bill seeks to address a water rights system that excludes Indigenous People as lawful water users, despite their longstanding role as the original stewards of California’s watersheds.

“Tribal Leaders recognize that California’s water rights system, based on the ‘first in time, first in right’ principle, purposefully disenfranchised the original water users,” said Russell “Buster” Attebery, Chairman of the Karuk Tribe. “This resulted in California Tribes losing access to their water, traditional foods, and culture. We believe that healthy rivers and restored fisheries are inseparable from Tribal sovereignty in water governance.”

As California faces growing climate-driven challenges, policymakers and communities increasingly recognize that equitable and sustainable water management must incorporate Tribal rights, traditional ecological knowledge, and Tribal governance. AB 2218 directs state agencies to strengthen consultation with Tribes during water rights investigations and develop policies that address water related harms resulting from state-sanctioned termination, removal, and assimilation of California Native American tribes.

“My tribe was displaced from our ancestral villages along the Sacramento River and Delta waterways, but we have not and will not abandon our role as guardians of the water,” said Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians. “It is imperative for state policy to recognize and repair the harms tribes have suffered. State agencies should protect our water uses and ensure that tribes receive just compensation for the destruction of our lifeways.”

Read the full press release from the Karuk Tribe here. 

###

 As President proposes slashing 100% of NOAA’s research budget, speakers highlighted NOAA’s vital role protecting communities from extreme weather disasters

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Amid proposed draconian budget cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and as Americans face escalating extreme weather risks, U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) joined former NOAA assistant administrators and dozens of advocates to rally in defense of the agency on Monday, June 8, on the National Mall. The rally, hosted at Constitution Gardens’ East End Plaza, was held outside a pop-up Museum of Unnatural Disasters. 

Watch the live stream recording on Instagram HERE.

“NOAA saves lives and powers the economy, and we can’t let the Trump administration gut it,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR). “What if the next storm hits while the National Weather Service is understaffed? What if farmers and fishermen can’t get the accurate data they need to make good decisions? I choose NOAA, science, and the American people because they deserve a government that cares about them, their livelihood, and their safety. And I’m not stopping this fight until we win.” 

President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 would eliminate 100% of the funds for NOAA’s research department and cut the agency’s overall funding by 28%. Although the House of Representatives has proposed smaller reductions, any cuts risk undermining NOAA’s critical work at a time when NOAA’s life-saving services and critical research are needed more than ever.

“Cutting NOAA and our government weather forecasting budgets is both expensive and dangerous,” said Monica Medina, former Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce. “Accurate government forecasts are free and help farmers protect crops, utilities prepare for storms, airlines avoid disruptions, emergency managers evacuate communities, and businesses plan operations. With extreme weather events increasing, every dollar cut from forecasting translates into higher costs and real safety risks for every American.”  

“NOAA’s research department has brought innovation, advancement, and connection across the agency for over fifty years,” said Craig McLean, former NOAA Assistant Administrator for Research. “Breaking up and fractionating NOAA research destroys synergies that bring you enhanced fishery forecasts, coastal community resilience and prosperity, weather forecasts you can trust, and climate realities without politics.” 

Meteorologists are forecasting one of the largest El Niño warm water systems in human history to begin this summer. With it will come more deadly heat waves in the Midwest and West and more extreme storms in the South. At a moment of growing climate volatility, advocates emphasized the need to strengthen weather research agencies, especially those at NOAA, rather than weaken them.

“As communities across the country face more frequent and severe weather disasters, cutting NOAA’s research and resources would put lives at risk,” said Gabrielle Walton, Chesapeake Climate Action Network Coordinator. “NOAA’s science and forecasting capabilities are essential to protecting public safety, strengthening resilience, and preparing for the growing impacts of climate change. We should be investing in this critical agency, instead of dismantling it when Americans need it most.” 

Watch the live stream recording on Instagram HERE.

###

Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC and beyond.

The post U.S. Representative Bonamici Joins Rally to Tell Trump Administration to Protect NOAA appeared first on Chesapeake Climate Action Network.