At the start of the 20th century, the Interior Department prioritized mineral, oil, and gas development (and livestock grazing). That’s just what it did, over a century ago. And that is what it has done since then.
Until Joe Biden became president. Biden nominated Deb Haaland to the post of Secretary, and together, they have changed everything.
Heather Cox Richardson summed up what they’ve done, despite fierce opposition: A big shift.
During her confirmation hearings in 2021, Interior Department secretary Deb Haaland promised “to responsibly manage our natural resources to protect them for future generations — so that we can continue to work, live, hunt, fish, and pray among them.” Noting her Indigenous heritage, Haaland tweeted, “A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior . . . I’ll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land.”
Republicans — especially those from states like Wyoming, which collects more than a billion dollars a year in royalties and taxes from the oil, gas, and coal produced on federal lands in the state— opposed Haaland’s focus on responsible management of natural resources for the future and warned that the Biden administration is “taking a sledgehammer to Western states’ economies.”
On Thursday, April 18, the Interior Department finalized a new rule for a balanced management of America’s public lands. Put together after a public hearing period that saw more than 200,000 comments from states, individuals, Tribal and local governments, industry groups, and advocacy organizations, the new rule prioritizes the health of the lands and waters the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management oversees. Those consist of about 245 million acres, primarily in 12 western states.
The new rule calls for protection of the land, restoration of the places that have been harmed in the past, and a promise to make informed decisions about future use based on “science, data, and Indigenous knowledge.” It “recognizes conservation as an essential component of public lands management, on equal footing with other multiple uses of these lands.” The Bureau of Land Management will now auction off leases not only for drilling, but also for conservation and restoration.
As the Bureau of Land Management explained, the balanced new Public Lands Rule will help conserve wildlife habitat, restore places impacted by wildfire and drought, expand outdoor recreation, and guide thoughtful development.
The final Public Lands Rule provides tools for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to help improve the health and resilience of public lands in the face of a changing climate; conserve important wildlife habitat and intact landscapes; facilitate responsible development; and better recognize unique cultural and natural resources on public lands.
The Public Lands Rule builds on historic investments in public lands, waters and clean energy deployment provided by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which recognizes the critical value of our public lands to all Americans. It also complements the President’s America the Beautiful initiative, a 10-year, locally led and nationally scaled effort to protect, conserve, connect and restore the lands, waters and wildlife upon which we all depend.
Building on decades of land management experience and emphasizing the use of science and data, including Indigenous knowledge, to guide balanced decision-making, the rule applies the existing fundamentals of land health across BLM programs, establishes restoration and mitigation leases, and clarifies practices to designate and protect Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.
[ . . .] Said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory: “From the most rugged backcountry spots to popular close-to-home recreation areas, these reforms will help deliver cleaner water, healthier lands, abundant wildlife, and more recreation opportunities for all of us.”
This is just a part of Biden’s commitment to our planet. Here is how Biden put it in his Earth Day address this year:
Today, I am on track to conserve more lands and waters than any President in history — getting us closer to my Administration’s historic goal of conserving at least 30 percent of our Nation’s lands and waters by 2030. It is a part of our “America the Beautiful” Initiative that supports locally led conservation, protection, and restoration through partnerships with Tribal Nations, local communities, and private landowners.
So far, I have protected over 41 million acres of our Nation’s lands and waters — from establishing national monuments like Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni on the outskirts of the Grand Canyon and Camp Hale high in the Colorado Rockies, to strengthening protections for treasures like the Tongass National Forest and Bristol Bay in Alaska.
[ . . . ] To restore and protect the health of our ocean, my Administration is advancing America’s first-ever Ocean Climate Action Plan, accelerating offshore wind energy development, and working to designate new national marine sanctuaries in California and the Pacific Remote Islands.
[ . . . ] On my first day in office, I immediately rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, reclaiming American leadership in this critical work. We have rallied the international community to tackle vital climate challenges, including collaborating with over 150 nations to commit to slashing methane emissions and over 140 nations to commit to halting and reversing forest loss by 2030 [ . . . ] Last year, the United States galvanized other countries to agree for the first time to transition away from the fossil fuels that jeopardize the health of our people and planet.
Through our Women in the Sustainable Economy Initiative, we are working to ensure that women around the world have access to good-paying jobs in sectors such as clean energy, fisheries, recycling, forest management, and environmental conservation, that are critical to our future.
By pledging a historic $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund to help reduce emissions and boost climate resilience in developing countries, we are catalyzing further global action.
Is there still more work to be done? 100%! Lots more work. But Biden has done so much more than many people guessed could be done. He deserves a lot of credit. AND he deserves to be re-elected.
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These posts are written by Goodnewsroundup (Goodie),
edited by Matilda Briggs, supported by 2thanks and WolverineForTJatAW,
and reinforced by several other notable Kossacks!
As with all good things, it takes a village.
