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Presidents Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt are well known for their contributions to land conservation in the U.S. But the Department of Interior’s list of the top Presidents who shaped America’s public lands also contains a few surprises. Abraham Lincoln saved the union but he also set aside some of the most iconic lands we own […]
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By Priscilla Brooks Common sense and science appear to have returned to United States environmental policy. In a flurry of executive orders during his first weeks in office, President Biden has committed to pausing oil and gas leasing on federal lands and offshore areas, rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, reviewing the Trump Administration’s efforts to […]
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Last week, during a joint visit in Arizona to the American Indian Veterans National Memorial by Vice President Biden and Senator Harris, their campaign released a strong new policy proposal on Native American tribal nations.
Why This Matters: Like environmental issues generally, Native American issues are being elevated with the new calls for improving environmental justice and ending structural racism embodied in the high rates of pollution and lack of clean drinking water on tribal lands.
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In a quiet decision in late May, the Trump Administration said it will open up California’s Carrizo Plain National Monument, which is known for its stunning wildflowers, to oil and gas drilling and a pipeline, the LA Times reported last week.
Why This Matters: This project is inconsistent with the purposes of the monument and will surely cause environmental harm.
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The Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass the Great American Outdoors Act and put $900m each year in perpetuity into the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which can be used to create, further protect, and expand federal, state, and local parks. In order to preserve the first fully protected area in the Atlantic Ocean, environmental groups yesterday challenged President Trump’s order opening up the NE Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to commercial fishing.
Why This Matters: The public overwhelmingly supports conserving our most precious areas of historic importance and natural beauty.
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The President traveled to Maine on Friday (World Environment Day) and ordered the elimination of prohibitions on fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, effectively lifting its protected status immediately.
Why This Matters: The Antiquities Act gives the President the power to create monuments and protect them from harm, but not to revoke them or eliminate core protections.
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