Former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will lay out his vision for bringing on a new era of American energy dominance in the opening remarks of his Thursday morning confirmation hearing, according to a copy of his prepared remarks obtained by The Daily Wire.
Burgum is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as the next secretary of the Department of the Interior. During his nomination hearing on Thursday, Burgum is expected to tell senators that energy dominance can be America’s “big stick” on the world stage.
After laying out his background and experience, Burgum will endorse a “big stick” approach to energy and production, a reference to former President Theodore Roosevelt’s advice to “speak softly and carry a big stick.”
“When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn’t reduce demand, it just shifts production to countries like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran – whose autocratic leaders don’t care about the environment,” Burgum will say.
“In our time, President Trump’s Energy Dominance can be America’s ‘big stick’ that is leveraged to achieve historic prosperity and world peace. The Department of the Interior – in cooperation with U.S. Congress, this committee, and the states – will play a pivotal role in achieving the outcomes to make the world safer and America even better for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come,” Burgum will say.
The former North Dakota governor will recount his life growing up in a small town in North Dakota to running a global company before he served in public office for the first time in 2016 as his state’s governor. 
&#8220;Growing up I worked at our family’s grain elevator. Every job I had through college was one that required showering at the end of the day — not the beginning. This included paying my way through North Dakota State University by working as a chimney sweep,&#8221; he will say.
Burgum will highlight his experience working to manage North Dakota’s lands and natural resources while improving relations with its tribes.
&#8220;In North Dakota, we created a prosperous economy by sustainably developing our natural resources with respect for our land and wildlife while having among the cleanest air and water in the country. During our tenure, North Dakota experienced among the lowest unemployment in the nation and top real GDP growth. Demographically, we went from one of the oldest states to the youngest. And we attracted record levels of talent and investment capital,&#8221; Burgum will say.
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EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK &#8212; <a href="https://twitter.com/DougBurgum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DougBurgum</a> will pledge in his opening remarks to prioritize &quot;INNOVATION over regulation&quot; to achieve &quot;energy dominance&quot; for America 
According to a copy of his remarks obtained by <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a>, Burgum will say that Trump achieving energy dominance has…
&mdash; Brent Scher (@BrentScher) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrentScher/status/1879732669082157106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Doug Burgum

EXCLUSIVE: Doug Burgum To Lay Out How American Energy Dominance Can Unlock ‘World Peace’

EXCLUSIVE: Doug Burgum: Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda The Key To ‘World Peace’

Department of the Interior

Donald Trump

In the final days of his term, President Joe Biden is set to ban new offshore oil and gas developments in some areas of the U.S. coast, a move that would hinder President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s push for more energy production.
Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-02/biden-to-block-more-offshore-oil-drilling-before-trump-arrives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Thursday that Biden is expected to issue an executive order &#8220;within days&#8221; that would prevent the sale of drilling rights in certain areas of the outer continental shelf. Biden&#8217;s move to further ban offshore drilling would be based on a <a href="https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/leasing/ocs-lands-act-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1953 law</a> that gives the president the power to permanently stop offshore oil drilling in U.S. waters without explicitly giving presidents the power to revoke oil drilling bans enacted by their predecessors, according to Bloomberg.
Biden has been pressured by Democrats and left-wing environmentalists to ban more offshore drilling before he leaves office and Trump takes over on January 20. In 2023, Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-slammed-after-admin-cuts-new-offshore-oil-leases-to-lowest-levels-ever" target="_blank" rel="noopener">severely cut back</a> on how many spots the government leases to oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico, allowing “a maximum of three potential oil and gas lease sales – the fewest oil and gas lease sales in history – in the Gulf of Mexico Program Area scheduled in 2025, 2027 and 2029,” according to the Department of the Interior (DOI).
Biden and his administration officials reportedly intensified efforts to ban more oil and gas drilling after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Earlier this week, the DOI <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-moves-to-lock-up-miles-of-nevada-land-under-environmental-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a slate of environmental rules for Nevada’s Ruby Mountains, including banning energy development along a large portion of the range for the next 20 years. The Biden administration also purchased a 640-acre, equivalent to a square mile, parcel of land from Wyoming within the Grand Teton National Park. The purchase also came with permanent environmental bans over the piece of land.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to revamp American energy production, repeatedly saying that under his administration, the U.S. would &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1824240746964365682" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drill, baby, drill</a>.&#8221; In September, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-addressing-economic-woes-begins-with-one-issue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> supporters in Flint, Michigan, that he would seek to cut Americans&#8217; energy costs by 50%, arguing that lowering energy bills is the key to tackling economic hardships.
“We have to start always with energy,” Trump said. “I don’t want to be boring about it, but there’s no bigger subject that covers everything. If you make donuts, if you make cars, whatever you make, energy is a big deal.”
“And it’s my ambition to get your energy bill within 12 months down 50%,” he added. “If I can do that, we’ve done a hell of a job … [and] interest rates are going to follow.”
Tim Pearce contributed to this report.

Joe Biden

Biden Expected To Block More Offshore Oil Drilling, Impeding Trump’s Energy Production Plans

Biden Expected To Block More Offshore Oil Drilling, Impeding Trump's Energy Production Plans

Energy

Oil and Gas

The Biden administration is moving to lock up hundreds of thousands of acres of land weeks before he is set to leave office.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-proposes-protections-ruby-mountains" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on Monday a slate of environmental rules for Nevada’s Ruby Mountains, including banning energy development along a large portion of the range for the next 20 years.
“The Ruby Mountains are cherished by local communities for their scenic value, cultural heritage, numerous wildlife and benefit to the local economy through a thriving outdoor recreation industry,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today, we are taking an important and sensible step to pause new oil and gas leasing to ensure that we have the science and public input necessary to inform proposed protections of the Ruby Mountains area for future generations.”
The announcement coincided with a notice to the Federal Register that initiates a 90-day public comment period for the proposed withdrawal of 264,000 acres of land from potential geothermal and oil and gas development for 20 years, the maximum length of time the Interior Secretary can lock up land. Permanent bans on federal land require an act of Congress.
The withdrawal notice does not otherwise regulate mining over the area, according to the press release. Nevada is a well-known source of gold deposits, being one of the top-producing regions of gold in the world.
Alongside the Ruby Mountain withdrawal, the DOI also announced the purchase of a 640-acre, equivalent to a square mile, parcel of land from Wyoming within the Grand Teton National Park. The purchase also came with permanent environmental bans over the piece of land.
“Today marks an incredible milestone, decades in the making, to permanently protect an essential wildlife migration corridor and treasured landscape within Grand Teton National Park,” Haaland <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-announces-permanent-protections-critical-land-and-wildlife" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “This will benefit our public lands and Wyoming’s public school students for generations to come.”

Deb Haaland

Biden Moves To Lock Up Miles Of Nevada Land Under Environmental Rules

Environment

Nevada

Politics

President-elect Donald Trump has announced his choice to be the next Secretary of the Interior: two-term North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum.
“If confirmed by the Senate, Burgum would manage the more than 500 million acres of federal land as well as the fossil fuels and minerals that lie beneath the surface — making him a critical component in Trump’s promise to boost oil and gas output,” POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/14/doug-burgum-interior-secretary-trump-00188590">noted</a>, adding, “North Dakota is the third-largest oil-producing state in the country and also has more than 4 million acres under federal oversight.”
“He’s going to be announced tomorrow for a very big position,” Trump <a href="//5886F98F-01C5-4A75-BE67-0801B0F82ABE/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at Mar-a-Lago Thursday night. “We’re going to do things with energy and with land, Interior, that is going to be incredible. &#8230; He’s going to head the Department of the Interior and he’s going to be fantastic. &#8230; We’ll make the formal announcement tomorrow.”
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Last May, Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/climate/trump-burgum-for-interior-secretary.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Burgum, who ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination but <a href="//5886F98F-01C5-4A75-BE67-0801B0F82ABE/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped out</a> before the Iowa caucuses and <a href="//5886F98F-01C5-4A75-BE67-0801B0F82ABE/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsed</a> Trump, “probably knows more about energy than anybody I know.”
In July 2023, after the Biden administration’s federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed regulating onshore oil and gas leases on federal lands, increasing the minimum lease bond to 15 times the previous amount, reducing areas available for leasing, and raising the minimum bid amount to five times the previous amount, Burgum <a href="https://www.governor.nd.gov/news/burgum-proposed-blm-rule-oil-and-gas-leasing-federal-lands-would-discourage-us-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>:
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These proposed changes are just the latest in the Biden administration’s long list of misguided policies that discourage domestic energy production. By raisings costs for oil and gas producers who want to develop minerals on federal lands, BLM will drive away producers and drive up energy costs for consumers, who will be forced to pay higher prices for fuels imported from countries that don’t produce energy as cleanly as the United States. We should be selling energy to our friends and allies instead of buying it from our adversaries and putting our country’s economy, energy security and national security at risk.
</blockquote>
Even some environmental activists praised the choice of Burgum as Interior Secretary; Collin O’Mara, CEO of the environmental group National Wildlife Federation, stated, “I think he’ll be a very strong champion of the energy dominance agenda. But in North Dakota, he tried to find some level of balance to make sure that important conservation areas, important areas for tourism, weren’t harmed in the process.”

2024 Republican National Convention: Day 3

Trump Picks Burgum For Secretary Of Interior

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/environment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Endangered Species Act</a> (ESA), which turned 50 years old on Thursday, has largely failed to restore populations of endangered species, according to government data analyzed by researchers at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC).
The ESA, overseen and enforced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), is the backbone of the federal government’s efforts to conserve endangered or threatened species. The act has two primary goals: save species from extinction, then help them recover.
But USFWS data show a massive gap between the ESA’s impact on the rate of extinction versus its ability to help species recover, according to USFWS data <a href="https://www.perc.org/2023/07/26/missing-the-mark/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analyzed</a> by PERC vice president of research Shawn Regan and PERC research fellow Katherine Wright.
Over the ESA’s lifetime, just 3% of species listed under the act as protected species have ever recovered. In a social media post marking the ESA’s 50th anniversary, Regan noted that the act has a 99% rate at keeping species from extinction. But the act has failed in its “ultimate goal,” he said.
“The act’s ultimate goal, however, is not to prevent extinction; it&#8217;s to recover species to the point that the act’s protections are no longer needed,” Regan wrote. “But of the 1,732 domestic species listed under the act, just 57 (3%) have recovered. This is not good news!”
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The act&#39;s ultimate goal, however, is not to prevent extinction; it&#39;s to recover species to the point that the act&#39;s protections are no longer needed.
But of the 1,732 domestic species listed under the act, just 57 (3%) have recovered. This is not good news! <a href="https://t.co/RL7SdnGHqs">pic.twitter.com/RL7SdnGHqs</a>
&mdash; Shawn Regan (@Shawn_Regan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shawn_Regan/status/1740449479441224065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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In addition to low rate of recovery, the USFWS has missed a large majority of its projections for recovery as well.
Regan and Wright “compared the number of recovered species to the number the agency projected should be recovered by [2023]. The results weren’t great,” Regan said. “We find that most of the species projected to recover by now have not. The [USFWS] projected to recover 300 species by 2023, but only 13 of those species have recovered. (The other 44 recovered species did not have projected recovery dates.)”
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We find that most of the species projected to recover by now have not. The <a href="https://twitter.com/USFWS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USFWS</a> projected to recover 300 species by 2023, but only 13 of those species have recovered. (The other 44 recovered species did not have projected recovery dates.) <a href="https://t.co/AHZqodASLd">pic.twitter.com/AHZqodASLd</a>
&mdash; Shawn Regan (@Shawn_Regan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shawn_Regan/status/1740450272403657010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The USFWS has also struggled to make meaningful progress on recovery objectives for threatened or endangered species.
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“According to the [USFWS’s] own assessment of its progress implementing recovery plans, 85% of species have completed or partially completed less than a quarter of their recovery actions,” Regan noted. “At the current rate of recovery, it would take the [USFWS] another 70 years to recover the just the remaining 287 species it projected to recover by now.”
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Many species remain listed decades longer than anticipated. At the current rate of recovery, it would take the <a href="https://twitter.com/USFWS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USFWS</a> another 70 years to recover the just the remaining 287 species it projected to recover by now. <a href="https://t.co/3cQA6tFqKE">pic.twitter.com/3cQA6tFqKE</a>
&mdash; Shawn Regan (@Shawn_Regan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shawn_Regan/status/1740451578753286312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Desert bighorn rams

After 50 Years Of Endangered Species Act Conservation, The Results ‘Weren’t Great,’ Expert Says

Animals

General

U.S.

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> announced on Wednesday that it would be canceling oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve and move to ban drilling in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alaska" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alaska&#8217;s</a> National Petroleum Reserve. 
The <a href="https://doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-takes-major-steps-protect-arctic-lands-and-wildlife-alaska" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> from the Department of the Interior means that seven leases for drilling given during the Trump administration will be rescinded and that 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve will be off limits for drilling if the proposed rule is approved. The leases <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-axe-alaska-oil-gas-leases-backed-state-lawmakers-native-americans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were held</a> by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) and encompassed 365,775 acres. 
“Alaska is home to many of America’s most breathtaking natural wonders and culturally significant areas. As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. 
The announcement was opposed by top Alaskan officials, including Governor Mike Dunleavy and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. 
“Today the Biden Administration announced that it is cancelling legally-issued oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge section designated for oil and gas development. The leases AIDEA holds in ANWR were properly acquired in a sale mandated by Congress,” Dunleavy <a href="https://twitter.com/GovDunleavy/status/1699520164356927930" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X. “It’s clear that President Biden needs a refresher on the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine. Federal agencies don’t get to rewrite laws, and that is exactly what the Department of the Interior is trying to do here.”
The governor added that Alaska would turn to the courts to challenge the Biden administration&#8217;s moves to cut down on oil production. Sullivan said Biden’s actions endangered the energy security of the U.S.
“This war on Alaska is devastating for not only Alaska but also the energy security of the nation. This unlawful cancellation of leases brings us to 55 executive orders and actions specifically targeting Alaska since President Biden assumed office,” Sullivan said. 
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This war on Alaska is devastating for not only Alaska but also the energy security of the nation. This unlawful cancellation of leases brings us to 55 executive orders and actions specifically targeting Alaska since President Biden assumed office. (1/2)<a href="https://t.co/FAEd6i6T9m">https://t.co/FAEd6i6T9m</a>
&mdash; Sen. Dan Sullivan (@SenDanSullivan) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenDanSullivan/status/1699500517574009053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland <a href="https://doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-takes-major-steps-protect-arctic-lands-and-wildlife-alaska" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the decision was made to protect the environment.
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“With climate change warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet, we must do everything within our control to meet the highest standards of care to protect this fragile ecosystem,” Haaland said in a statement. “President Biden is delivering on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in history. The steps we are taking today further that commitment, based on the best available science and in recognition of the Indigenous Knowledge of the original stewards of this area, to safeguard our public lands for future generations.”
Despite the fact that Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/death-by-a-thousand-cuts-oil-executive-details-how-biden-is-a-drag-on-the-industry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">canceled</a> the Keystone XL pipeline expansion and aggressively pushed green energy, climate activists are still angry at Biden after he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alaska-arctic-refuge-oil-gas-leases-interior-318dcc3f2d5b104a800bf3ba48e764b7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed</a> the Willow oil project in Alaska’s North Slope to go forward, which could end up yielding 180,000 gallons of oil per day. The decision to end the leases and block drilling comes as gas prices across the country remain high.

General Views Of The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

‘War On Alaska’: Biden Admin Cancels Alaskan Oil And Gas Leases, Bans Drilling On Millions Of Acres

Biden Admin Cancels Alaskan Oil And Gas Leases, Bans Drilling On Millions Of Acres

Alaska

Biden Administration

A nonprofit watchdog group is suing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-the-interior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of the Interior</a> over communications between Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/deb-haaland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deb Haaland</a>, her activist daughter, and department officials.
Protect the Public&#8217;s Trust (PPT) filed two lawsuits against the Biden administration on Monday; one against the Interior Department and another against one of its agencies, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Both lawsuits are over an open records request PPT filed with Interior for communications between Haaland’s daughter Somah and the secretary and other department officials, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-hit-lawsuits-hiding-communications-involving-cabinet-secretarys-daughter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
Somah is a media organizer for the Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA), a New Mexico environmental group <a href="https://www.puebloactionalliance.org/protectgreaterchaco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushing</a> for a moratorium on oil and gas drilling within a 10-mile radius of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The ban, which has been picked up and proposed by BLM, has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-cabinet-members-daughter-lobbying-congress-issue-her-mom-final-say-conflict-interest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drawn</a> fire from industry and Native American interests.
PAA’s lobbying is part of a broader effort by the Greater Chaco Coalition, a group of environmental organizations working together to lobby D.C. officials to ban fossil fuel development in the Chaco Canyon area. As part of that effort, Somah and other coalition representatives <a href="https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/greater-chaco-advocates-travel-dc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traveled</a> to Washington, D.C., in December to show a film on the dangers of development near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
Lawmakers and Interior officials attended the screening and watched a panel of coalition representatives, including Somah, speak on the film.
Somah’s position as an activist and the daughter of the official ultimately in charge of the department she is lobbying is a red flag for an ethical breach, according to PPT Director Michael Chamberlain. PPT has filed open record requests for any communications concerning the film sent between Somah and her secretary mother and other department officials.
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“Her daughter’s activism and lobbying efforts certainly have the potential to create the perception in the minds of the public that Secretary Haaland could be conflicted on issues under her authority,” Chamberlain told Fox News. “Further complicating matters is the participation of an organization that claims Somah Haaland among its leadership in the protest that turned into a riot at the Interior headquarters.”
“Each of these items alone would point to the need for DOI to provide more transparency into any relationships and interactions between Somah Haaland and senior Department officials,” added Chamberlain. “Taken together, this need is magnified.”

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s Relationship With Activist Daughter Under Spotlight In New Lawsuits

Washington D.C.

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White House</a> proposed cuts to the water allotments for a group of states that draw from the Colorado River after negotiations between the states stalemated.
The Colorado River <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/over-40-million-people-rely-on-water-from-the-colorado-river-its-dangerously-close-to-drying-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provides</a> water for 40 million Americans across seven states for business, agriculture, and drinking. A two-decades-long drought has strained the river near its breaking point, and officials in the seven states have negotiated for months to cut water allotments to avoid a worst-case scenario.
The negotiations have come to naught so far and the river’s two reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are at risk of dead pooling, the level at which the river will stop flowing and cause millions of Americans to lose water. Before that happens, millions of Americans that rely on hydropower from the Glen Canyon and Hoover dams could be cut off if the water level dips below the benchmark at which the dams’ hydropower plants can run.
The Department of the Interior on Tuesday proposed even cuts of the water allotments of each state, which would override the legal precedent set under a framework of laws known as the “law of the river” that has governed Colorado River usage for about a century, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/11/climate/colorado-river-water-cuts-drought.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.
Tommy Beaudreau, the deputy secretary for the Interior Department, said the departure from legal precedent, which in the past has given seniority water rights priority, is warranted considering the changing science around climate. He said the impact of climate change on the river was not considered when the allotments were originally portioned out.
The government’s authority only allowed it to impose cuts on the so-called lower basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada because of their position downriver. The upper-basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming draw their water before it is stored in lakes Powell and Mead.
The lower-basin states use the greater share of the water from the Colorado River. The upper-basin states have already cut their usage along with the river’s decreasing flow.
Negotiators from Arizona and Nevada have signaled approval of the government’s plan, though Nevada specified that an agreement worked out between the states would be best. California has not yet made a statement on the government’s plan. California holds the majority of seniority water rights under the current legal framework, and negotiators have pushed for a plan that takes that into account.
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The cuts that the Colorado River states must make, any way they come out, will be unprecedented. The Colorado River is a major source of water for several major cities. Los Angeles gets about half of its water from the Colorado; Las Vegas draws about 90% of its water from the river. The Bureau of Reclamation has asked the states to work out an agreement that would reduce Colorado River usage by about one-third.

U.S.-ARIZONA-NEVADA BORDER-WATER LEVELS-RISE

Biden Admin Proposes Drastic Cuts To Colorado River’s Water Usage Before It Runs Dry

Biden Admin Proposes Drastic Cuts To Colorado River's Water Usage Before It Runs Dry

Arizona

California

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo blasted President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>’s creation of national monuments in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nevada" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nevada</a> on Tuesday.
Biden used authority granted to the president under the Antiquities Act of 1906 on Tuesday to create two national monuments — one in Nevada and one in Texas — and he directed resources toward studying a possible marine national monument southwest of Hawaii. The two national monuments together impose strict regulations on roughly 510,000 acres of land.
The national monument declared in Nevada is by far the bigger of the two, itself covering over half a million acres. The Avi Kwa Ame National Monument was designated over a region known as Spirit Mountain in southern Nevada. Lombardo said that the designation, made without his input, locks up land long planned for mineral development and other projects.
“Since I took office, the Biden White House has not consulted with my administration about any of the details of the proposed Avi Kwa Ame national monument which, given the size of the proposal, seems badly out of step,&#8221; the Republican governor told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nevada-governor-blasts-biden-locking-up-mineral-rich-land-historic-mistake" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> in a statement.
“Upon learning that the President was considering unilateral action, I reached out to the White House to raise several concerns, citing the potential for terminal disruption of rare earth mineral mining projects and long-planned, bipartisan economic development efforts,” he continued. “While I’m still waiting for a response, I’m not surprised.”
The region of Avi Kwa Ame is rich in minerals. The state of Nevada has large reserves of lithium in particular, a key ingredient in green technology such as batteries. The designation potentially killed at least one green energy project, the 400-megawatt Angora Solar Project by Avantus, a California-based renewable energy company. The company had requested the Biden administration carve 2,000 acres for the solar farm, which Biden did not accommodate, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/21/biden-creates-national-monuments-nevada-texas-00088011" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a>.
“It’s one of our most beautiful landscapes that ties together one of the largest contiguous wildlife corridors in the United States: 500,000 acres. It’s breathtaking,” Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/03/21/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-white-house-conservation-in-action-summit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “Rich in biodiversity; sacred lands that are central to the creation story of so many tribes who have been here since time immemorial.”
“It’s a place of reverence. It’s a place of spirituality. And it’s a place of healing. And now it’ll be recognized for the significance it holds and be preserved forever,” he added.
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The Biden administration claimed while designating the national monument that it would not “slow the positive momentum of clean energy development in the State of Nevada.”
Lombardo disagreed, saying that the national monument would cost his state jobs and raise the price of land for Nevada residents.
“This kind of ‘Washington Knows Best’ policy might win plaudits from unaccountable special interests, but it’s going to cost our state jobs and economic opportunity — all while making land more expensive and more difficult to develop for affordable housing and critical infrastructure projects,” the governor said. “The federal confiscation of 506,814 acres of Nevada land is a historic mistake that will cost Nevadans for generations to come.”
Biden also designated nearly 7,000 acres near El Paso, Texas, as the Castner Range National Monument.
“The people of El Paso have fought to protect this for 50 years. Their work has finally paid off,” Biden said. “And now we’ll clear the area of old munitions, create access to the outdoors for communities and parks, and we’re going to — green spaces that — they’re harder and harder to find. And importantly, Castner Range will be preserved for future generations.”

Joe Lombardo

Nevada Governor Rips Biden For ‘Federal Confiscation’ Of Over 500,000 Acres: ‘Historic Mistake’

Executive

A decades-long drought and population growth has left the Colorado River over-leveraged and in dire need of a new management plan before the water runs out for millions of Americans.
 Negotiations between seven states to reapportion the river’s water have been deadlocked for months, and the federal government is threatening to break the deadlock with its own management plan — whether the states like it or not.
The Department of the Interior has given Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming a deadline to reach an agreement twice, and each time the states blew past it without reaching consensus.
The federal government’s request is unprecedented in U.S. history. The Colorado River supplies water for roughly 40 million Americans. The Bureau of Reclamation has asked the Basin states to cut water usage by about one-third.
The latest deadline passed on Wednesday with six of the seven states agreeing on a plan to cut water usage, with only California dissenting. The Golden State put forward its own plan emphasizing its priority rights over the Colorado River that have been a part of the legal framework governing the basin for a century.
The lack of consensus increases the chance that the Bureau of Reclamation will devise its own plan and force the basin states to follow it whether they like it or not. The bureau needs a plan soon in order to model the water level of the river and its reservoirs and complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the basin. The EIS will inform the Department of the Interior’s long-term water management strategy.
The Colorado River has been governed under the same rough legal framework of water apportionment for the past 100 years, though it has been updated as new infrastructure has been added and court cases have been settled. The body of law that governs the basin is collectively known as “<a href="https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g1000/lawofrvr.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Law of the River</a>.”
The cornerstone of that legal framework was set in 1922 in an agreement called the Colorado River Compact. The agreement divided the basin into upper and lower halves and guaranteed each 7.5 million acre-feet of water from the river. The Mexican Water Treaty of 1944 allotted 1.5 million acre-feet of the Colorado River to Mexico. One acre-foot is about the amount of water two or three households use in a year.
The upper basin, where the Colorado River originates, consists of parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and is above the river’s two reservoirs: Lake Powell, behind Glen Canyon Dam, and Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam. The lower basin states – Arizona, California, and Nevada – are located roughly below the reservoirs and can pull from them, whereas the upper basin must rely on the river’s natural flow.
<div id="attachment_497819" style="width: 569px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-497819" class="size-large wp-image-497819" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-559x576.webp" alt="" width="559" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-559x576.webp 559w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-291x300.webp 291w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3-768x791.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/02/Colo-River-Basin-states-3.webp 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 559px) 100vw, 559px" />Colorado Foundation for Water Education</div>
The 1922 agreement that set out the apportionment for the upper and lower basins may always have been too optimistic. The compact <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2022/07/11/running-dry-in-the-american-west/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> the Colorado River’s annual flows at 17 million acre-feet. In the century since, the river has averaged about 12 million acre-feet annually. The compact, we now know, was drawn up during the river’s wettest season in the past 500 years, according to Shawn Regan, vice president of research at the Property and Environment Research Center.
In addition to poor planning and population growth, the river is under stress from an extended drought that has beat down on the American West for over two decades. A study <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-west-megadrought-f02449c2db4f0ebeb1557bb39504c62d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> last year suggests that the West is the driest it’s been in 1,200 years.
“In the Colorado River Basin, the period from 2000 through 2021 has been the driest 22-year period recorded in more than 100 years of record-keeping,” Tanya Trujillo, an experienced water lawyer and Interior’s assistant secretary for Water and Science, <a href="https://www.doi.gov/ocl/colorado-river-drought-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Congress in 2021. “The reservoir system was 95 percent full in 2000, but as of September 28th, Colorado River system reservoirs sit at just 39 percent, the lowest levels since they began to fill.”
The water level has continued to drop since Trujillo’s testimony. The strain is evident in the Colorado River basin’s two major reservoirs. Lakes Powell and Mead are both at all-time lows. Lake Mead, in particular, has made a number of ghastly headlines over the past year as its water level has dropped, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sixth-set-of-skeletal-remains-found-in-lake-mead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealing</a> sunken ships and bodies weighted and sunk to its lake bed.
Officials across the seven states fear what could happen as each reservoir approaches two low-water <a href="https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2022/05/16/what-is-dead-pool-a-water-expert-explains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">benchmarks</a>, each of which would have severe consequences.
The first and highest benchmark is known as the minimum power pool elevation: the level at which the lakes need to sit in order for their dams to produce hydropower.
The Glen Canyon and Hoover dams produce power for millions of Americans. Should that power be cut off, the worst effects could be mitigated by siphoning power from other parts of the U.S. electrical grid.
The scenario officials are seeking to avoid at all costs, which would likely have catastrophic effects, takes place at the lower benchmark, a condition known as “dead pool.” If the reservoirs reach dead pool status, no more water can flow downriver from the lakes. The effects would be disastrous for cities such as Los Angeles, which <a href="https://viterbi.usc.edu/water/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gets</a> half its water from the Colorado River, and Las Vegas, which <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/california-water-proposal-colorado-river-climate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gets</a> 90% of its water from the Colorado.
Despite the urgency, officials across the seven states have not been able to agree on a way to collectively cut down water usage from the Colorado by two to four million acre-feet as the Interior Department has requested. The brunt of the responsibility to cut has fallen on the lower basin states. The upper basin states are only <a href="https://www.coloradoriverdistrict.org/imbalances-in-the-colorado-river-basin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pulling</a> about half their legal allotment of water because the drought has crippled the river upstream.
The lower basin states cannot agree on how to implement the cuts. The two sides on Wednesday clashed to a large extent on California’s insistence that priority water rights, a feature of the current legal framework that give priority to claims to the Colorado River’s water made earlier, still apply.
“[D]espite big disagreements about how to approach this, we have unanimity among all seven states that very deep cuts in Lower Basin water use are needed,” University of New Mexico professor and Colorado River expert John Fleck <a href="https://www.inkstain.net/2023/02/deadpool-diaries-the-numbers-in-the-states-two-proposals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> Wednesday. The two sides both presented plans based on cuts that scale up as the water level in Lake Mead falls.
“The difference is in timing,” Fleck wrote. “California’s cuts don’t kick in until later – essentially a gamble on good hydrology once again helping us avoid conflict by letting us use more water in the short term.”
Officials in Arizona, which has the second-largest water usage in the lower basin behind California, recognized California’s legal claim, but said the approach simply is not realistic.
“If you want to model cutting off most or all of the water supply of 27 million Americans, you can go through the exercise but implementing that on the ground would have the direst consequence for almost 10% of the country,” Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager John Enstminger told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/california-water-proposal-colorado-river-climate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>.

Lake Mead near Hoover Dam

Over 40 Million People Rely On Water From The Colorado River. It’s Dangerously Close To Drying Up.

Colorado

Drinking Water

drought

Lake Mead

New Mexico

Readers Pass

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-the-interior">Department of the Interior</a> (DOI) announced Friday that its Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force is in the final steps of removing the word squaw from certain <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-government">federally owned lands</a> across the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-states">United States</a>.
The Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force was <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-haaland-takes-action-remove-derogatory-names-federal-lands">created</a> under the Biden administration in November 2021. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland also declared &#8220;squaw&#8221; to be derogatory and ordered the task force to review the term across 660 locations throughout the country. On Friday, DOI announced that the task force had concluded its review of those locations.
&#8220;I am grateful to the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force for their work to ensure that racist names like sq___ no longer have a place on our federal lands. I look forward to the results of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names vote, and to implement changes as soon as is reasonable,&#8221; Haaland <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-moves-toward-final-steps-remove-sq-federal-lands">said</a> in a press release. (original censorship included) 
The press release also noted, &#8220;The Task Force this week provided replacement name recommendations to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN). The BGN is expected to vote on the Task Force recommendations in September, at which point a final list will be published.&#8221;
The word squaw is thought to have originated in part from the Algonquian language and was used by early European settlers to refer to Native American women. Since that time, the word squaw  has been used in a racist manner to belittle Native American women down to female anatomy, some argue.
&#8220;Racist terms have no place in our vernacular or on our federal lands,&#8221; Haaland <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/19/1057367325/interior-secretary-deb-haaland-moves-to-ban-the-word-squaw-from-federal-lands">said</a> in November 2021. &#8220;Our nation&#8217;s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage — not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression.&#8221;
Abenaki scholar Marge Bruchac has argued that squaw is not offensive in and of itself unless it is intended to be so.
&#8220;&#8230;When I hear it spoken by Native peoples, in its proper context, I hear the voices of the ancestors. I am reminded of powerful grandmothers who nurtured our people and fed the strangers, of proud women chiefs who stood up against them, and of mothers and daughters and sisters who still stand here today,&#8221; she <a href="http://nativenortheastportal.com/editorial-note-use-word-squaw">wrote</a> in 1999. &#8220;In their honor I demand that our language, and our women, and our history, be treated with respect.&#8221;
The Interior Department also noted that the agency has undergone steps to remove offensive language in the past.
&#8220;Derogatory names have previously been identified by the Secretary of the Interior or the Board on Geographic Names and have been comprehensively replaced,&#8221; the agency <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-haaland-takes-action-remove-derogatory-names-federal-lands">said</a> in a press release. &#8220;In 1962, Secretary Stewart Udall identified the N-word as derogatory, and directed that the BGN develop a policy to eliminate its use. In 1974, the Board on Geographic Names identified a pejorative term for &#8216;Japanese&#8217; as derogatory and eliminated its use.&#8221;

Joe Biden, Deb Haaland

Biden’s Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force Working To Remove The Word ‘Squaw’ From Federal Lands

Biden's Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force Working To Remove The Word 'Squaw' From Federal Lands

Native Americans

A group of environmentalist organizations is suing the Biden administration to vacate more than 3,500 oil and gas drilling permits already approved in two states, even amidst the continuing energy crisis.
In a <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_development/oil_and_gas/pdfs/Multistate-Complaint-on-Applications-for-Permits-to-Drill.pdf">lawsuit</a> filed Wednesday in the Washington, D.C., District Court, two wildlife conservation activist groups, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians, as well as the environmental activist law firm Western Environmental Law Center, sued the Department of the Interior, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tracy Stone-Manning, seeking to halt the approval of more than 3,500 permits in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, saying the permits violate environmental laws. Those permits constitute nearly all of the permits approved in those two states.
&#8220;Climate change is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation activities,&#8221; the groups write in the 62-page legal filing, which includes a 192-page appendix listing all of the targeted oil and gas wells.
&#8220;In the United States, almost one quarter of all annual emissions are from fossil fuel resources extracted from public lands,&#8221; the groups claim. &#8220;The drilling of these oil and gas wells will likely emit 490-600 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas pollution over the course of their lifespans, equivalent to the annual emissions of between 131-161 coal fired power plants. This is both a nationally and globally significant quantity of emissions.&#8221;
In the suit, the groups claim that the permits were approved in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), along with the relevant federal regulations. The groups allege that the BLM failed to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, in violation of the ESA; failed &#8220;to consider or take action to prevent the unnecessary and undue degradation of public lands resulting from ongoing oil and gas permitting,&#8221; in violation of the FLPMA; failed &#8220;to take a hard look at cumulative [greenhouse gas] emissions and climate impacts&#8221; under the NEPA; and failed to &#8220;take a hard look at environmental justice&#8221; under NEPA, specifically as it relates to the &#8220;disproportionate and adverse effects from climate change&#8221; felt by communities in Wyoming, New Mexico, and nationwide.
The groups are seeking an injunction that would vacate the targeted leases. Those leases would amount to nearly all the leases approved in those two states since Joe Biden took office. According to data from the <a href="https://reports.blm.gov/report/AFMSS/81/Approved-APDs-Report-Federal">BLM website</a>, more than 3,800 permits were approved in Wyoming and New Mexico between January 21, 2021, and May 31, 2022. Those leases also constitute a large share of the permits issued nationwide in that time.
The suit comes even as the Biden administration itself continues to undermine new oil and gas leasing and drilling. In November, the Interior Department released a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-recommends-tighter-constraints-on-new-oil-and-gas-drilling-amid-energy-crisis">report</a> recommending BLM crack down on the lands available for new drilling leases, and imposing higher costs on oil companies. Then in May, the Department canceled a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/while-gas-hits-record-high-biden-administration-cancels-enormous-alaska-oil-and-gas-lease-sale">massive lease sale</a> of more than 1 million acres in the Cook Inlet and Alaska, and two other leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Separately, a group of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unacceptable-cruz-gop-senators-demand-end-to-oil-and-gas-lease-permit-delays">Republican Senators</a>, led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, sent a letter to the Department of Commerce demanding the National Marine Fisheries Service put an end to delays in advancing new permits.

Plunging Energy Prices Put Strain On Texas Economy

Amid Continuing Energy Crisis, Environmentalist Groups Sue Biden Admin To Block More Than 3,500 Oil And Gas Permits

Environmentalist Groups Sue Biden Admin To Block More Than 3,500 Oil And Gas Permits

Environmentalism

Lawsuit