by James Murphy New American This week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced changes to regulations for roughly one-tenth of the public land that it oversees — approximately 245 million acres. According to a BLM press release, the new changes will “improve the health and resilience of public lands in the face of a [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel The Interior Department marked its 172nd anniversary two years ago by recommitting itself to science-based decision-making, instructing its employees to follow the best available science at every turn. It was intended to realign agency procedures with the Data Quality Act of [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel A New York Times “climate desk” reporter named David Gelles recently wrote a fascinating account of the internal battle plaguing the Sierra Club for three years. His lead explained that “Like many other American institutions, the Sierra Club was convulsed by [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel “Cadastre” is an early 19th Century word describing a property inventory used to allocate taxes. The word has just found its way into federal law, thanks to an amendment added to the recent 4,155-page “omnibus” appropriations bill. The new section refers [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel In the 1980s, when the Clash sang “Should I stay or should I go,” its lyrics include the no-win scenario, “If I go there will be trouble, An’ if I stay it will be double.” That damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t dilemma is a [...]
by Varun Hukeri Daily Caller Interior Secretary nominee Deb Haaland faced questions from lawmakers on topics including federal drilling permits and pipelines during her confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. If confirmed, Haaland would play a central role in managing more than 500 million acres of federal land and [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel A famous 1970s TV commercial warned, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” In fact, it’s worse than “not nice” — it’s dangerous. Coloradans will make a momentous decision on this year’s ballot, whether to mess with Mother Nature by introducing [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel Colorado River managers have struggled most of my life to administer interstate agreements in the face of dwindling flows. It was a perennial issue long before anyone heard of global warming, yet we’re now told that is why the river has [...]
by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow As appearing in the Daily Sentinel For several years I have been a senior adviser to the respected environmental firm, Dawson and Associates. The organization helps with projects that require permits, especially from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the firm’s associates include numerous retired [...]
by Greg Walcher, Senior Policy Fellow As Appearing in The Daily Sentinel Don McLean ended "Vincent," his classic tribute to Van Gogh, with the famous line, "They would not listen, they're not listening still — perhaps they never will." The song was about the post-impressionist painter, but that line has been used in many political [...]
