Tag Archive for: department of the interior

House Passes EPA Spending Bill That Defunds Several Biden Climate Initiatives

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The House of Representatives passed its sixth appropriations bill to fund certain government agencies related to the environment on Friday that would defund many of the Biden administration’s climate-change-focused initiatives.

The Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 allocates over $25 billion to fund conservation programs, agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management(BLM) and Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) as well as cultural promotion agencies such as the national endowments for the arts and humanities. After spending over 12 hours considering amendments to the bill on Thursday and Friday morning, the House passed the bill by a vote of 213 yeas to 203 nays, with all Democrats but one voting against the bill.

“In drafting this bill, we worked very hard to rein in federal spending while prioritizing critical needs within our Subcommittee’s allocation,” said Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho’s 2nd District, who introduced the bill, at a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee in July to consider the bill. “Cutting funding is never easy and it can often be an ugly, arduous process. But with the national debt in excess of $32 trillion and inflation at an unacceptable level, we must make tough choices to ensure we do not saddle our children and grandchildren with overwhelming debt.”

Amid widespread Republican opposition to the many climate change initiatives of the Biden administration, the House considered over 130 amendments on the floor to the bill, mostly from Republican members seeking to deny funds for these initiatives. Many of their amendments failed to pass due to bipartisan opposition.

Among the amendments passed by the House was a provision to deny funds for enforcing prohibitions on plastic straws, which was offered by Republican Rep. John Rose of Tennessee. Another such amendment, offered by Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, denies the government funds to prevent domestic pollutants from adversely affecting foreign countries.

One amendment, by Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, denies funds to implement a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act(IRA) that raises minimum rents and royalties for oil and gas projects. Perhaps the most narrowly passed amendment was one advanced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, which denies funds to implement any of President Joe Biden’s climate-change-focused executive orders, which was approved by one vote.

The bill has been opposed by Biden, whose administration released a statement indicating that he would veto it. “These levels would result in deep cuts to clean energy programs and other programs that work to combat climate change, essential nutrition services, law enforcement, consumer safety, education, and healthcare,” wrote the Office of Management and Budget about the bill’s funding levels, adding that it “include[s] billions in additional rescissions from the [Inflation Reduction Act] and other vital legislation.”

In parallel, the Senate has proposed a separate appropriations bill for these departments and agencies, which provides $19 billion more than the House bill and largely supports Biden’s environmental agenda, including $100 million for environmental justice programs, according to a press release from the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

AUTHOR

ARJUN SINGH

Contributor.

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‘Unconscionable’: Biden Admin Renames Hundreds Of ‘Racist And Derogatory’ Landmarks

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The first recorded version of squa was found in a book called Mourt’s Relation: A Journey of the Pilgrims at Plymouth written in 1622. The term was not used in a derogatory fashion but spoke of the “squa sachim or Massachusetts Queen” in the September 20, 1621 journal entry.

“Squaw comes from a language of the Algonquian family in which it meant ‘woman’.” — The True History of the Word Squaw

President Joe Biden’s Interior Department (DOI) released replacement names for almost 650 “racist and derogatory” geographical features on federal lands, the agency said Thursday.

The word “squaw” was determined by DOI’s Board of Geographic Names to be an an “offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women,” according to a press release. The word is from 1622 and means “an Indigenous woman of North America,” according to Merriam-Webster, and it was in the names of canyons, lakes, springs and other geographical features until Thursday.

“I feel a deep obligation to use my platform to ensure that our public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming,” DOI Secretary Deb Haaland said Thursday. “Together, we are showing why representation matters and charting a path for an inclusive America.”

DOI created a Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force in 2021, saying in an order “squaw” will soon be moved out of the names in federal land features. The agency held a final vote on the land name replacements and the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force received over 1,000 name recommendations during the public comment period, DOI said Thursday.

Karen Budd-Falen, deputy solicitor for DOI’s parks and wildlife division under former President Donald Trump, said the Biden administration is too focused on “political correctness” instead of more important policy issues.

“There are great issues in this country that really need time and attention,” Budd-Falen told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I just worry that we’re so busy worrying about political correctness and we’re not focused on these other issues more pressing issues and issues that are really going to affect the future structure of energy and American rural communities.”

Geographical features in dozens of states, including California, Alaska, Alabama and Pennsylvania are impacted by DOI’s order. While the new land names are effective immediately, the public can still suggest other name changes.

“It’s unconscionable that at a time of record inflation, record high gas prices, and an unsecured border, this is what the Biden administration is focusing on,” Republican Texas Rep. Troy Nehls told the DCNF. “This is yet another attempt to rewrite history to fit the Democrats’ extremist narrative.”

“It’s a shame, and this is not what the American people want,” said Nehls.

DOI did not respond to a request for comment.

AUTHOR

GABE KAMINSKY

Investigative reporter.

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Biden May Not Hold Any Offshore Oil And Gas Leases Until The End Of His Term, Industry Group Says

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The American Petroleum Institute (API), a leading industry group, said the next offshore oil and gas lease sale likely wouldn’t come until early 2024 following the latest Biden administration update.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced Thursday that it would issue an updated proposed program plan for offshore lease sales by June 30. The API, though, said the announcement confirms the administration is “significantly behind” in the multi-year process required for approving a new five-year offshore plan, likely delaying lease sales until early 2024.

The Interior Department declined to comment and referred TheDCNF to DOI Secretary Deb Haaland’s testimony on Capitol Hill Thursday.

“The practical effect of this is that it is unlikely there will be offshore lease sales before the end of 2023,” said Frank Macchiarola, API’s senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs. “This is one more example of the disconnect between the administration’s political rhetoric and policy reality.”

He added that the announcement was the latest in a series of “mixed signals on energy policy” from the administration.

The current five-year offshore plan is set to expire in late June, meaning the DOI is supposed to have a finalized plan, not proposed program, by that time. The federal government is required to issue a plan outlining all proposed offshore lease sales every five years under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

“Joe Biden has been lying all along,” Steve Milloy, a former Trump administration transition official and JunkScience.com founder, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “He said that he’s doing everything he can to lower gas prices. The only way to do that is to increase production and he’s doing everything he can to reduce production.”

“The overall tone since day one has been to discourage oil and gas investment,” Milloy continued.

The first lease sale under the current plan took place on Aug. 16, 2017, 519 days after the Obama administration published its proposed program. Based on that timeline, the earliest possible lease sale under the Biden administration plan would take place in December 2023 if the DOI published a proposed program on June 30 as it promised Thursday.

But industry groups suggested the administration’s hostility toward fossil fuels would likely lead to further delays stretching into 2024.

“Interior has had 16 months to fulfill its statutory obligation to develop and maintain an offshore oil and gas leasing program and it has failed,” National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito said in a statement. “No other administration has failed in this way.”

In addition, Haaland blamed the Trump administration for the delays on Thursday.

“The previous Administration stopped work on the new five-year plan in 2018, so there has been a lot to do to catch up,” Haaland said during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

However, the Obama administration issued a proposed program 411 days after issuing a draft plan in 2015. President Joe Biden has been in office 484 days by comparison.

AUTHOR

THOMAS CATENACCI

Energy & environment reporter. Follow Thomas on Twitter

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Biden Revoked Trump’s ‘Energy Dominance’ Agenda. Now It’s Coming Back To Haunt Him

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President Joe Biden’s decision to reverse a series of Trump administration energy policies have harmed American consumers amid the Ukraine crisis, former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said.

Bernhardt, who led the Department of Interior (DOI) between 2019-2021, said Biden’s energy policies reflect activism rather than a coherent strategy to ensure low prices and sufficient supply for Americans. Fossil fuel industry groups and Republican lawmakers have repeatedly blamed the Biden administration for rising energy prices slamming consumers in recent weeks.

The average price of gasoline ticked up to $4.19 a gallon on Monday, remaining near its all-time high of more than $4.30 per gallon set in April, according to Energy Information Administration data.

“As a candidate, President Biden was very, very clear that he had a different energy vision than the vision of energy independence — even energy dominance — that Trump had,” Bernhardt told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview.

“President Biden campaigned with a very different vision,” he continued. “His vision, I think to say fairly, would be a vision of climate activism over energy independence or energy dominance.”

Bernhardt added that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has filled the DOI with “some of the most activist folks that could have possibly been chosen.” He said the agency is largely crafting energy policies based upon Biden’s directives.

Shortly after taking office in January 2021, Biden issued a series of climate-related executive orders, canceling the Keystone XL pipeline permit and issuing a moratorium on new federal oil and gas leasing, following up on a campaign promise to “get rid of fossil fuels.” The Biden administration has yet to hold an onshore lease sale even after a federal court ruled the moratorium was illegal.

Haaland revoked a dozen key Trump administration energy policies in compliance with Biden’s executive orders in an April 2021 secretarial order. The DOI’s “American Energy Independence,” “Supporting and Improving the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Federal Solid Mineral Leasing Program” and “Executive Committee for Expedited Permitting” were among the policies reversed.

“I’m hopeful that these steps will help make clear that we, as a Department, have a mandate to act,” Haaland said at the time.

But Bernhardt pointed to both the lack of drilling and decline in applications for permit to drill (APD) issued by the Biden administration.

“If you look at the number of APDs issued in December 2020 and then compare that to December of 2021, you will see a nearly 80% reduction in APDs issued even though over 4,000 APD requests,” Bernhardt told the DCNF. “And if you look at the length of time it currently takes to do the processing of APDs and let’s say you looked at it between fiscal year 20 and fiscal year 21, you will see a lengthening.”

The U.S. increased domestic oil production during the Trump administration from 8.9 million barrels of oil per day to nearly 13 million barrels of oil per day between 2016-2019, according to Energy Information Administration data. The nation became a net exporter of total energy in 2019 — factoring in oil, coal and natural gas trade — for the first time in nearly eight decades.

The U.S., though, is projected to return to net oil importer status under the Biden administration in 2022. Production has decreased since November to about 11.3 million barrels a day.

AUTHOR

THOMAS CATENACCI

Energy and environment reporter. Follow Thomas on Twitter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.