Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Trump Admin Cuts Rule: Public Lands Not for Conservation

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- The Interior Department is canceling a rule that put conservation on equal footing with development, as President Donald Trump's administration eases restrictions on industries and seeks to boost drilling, logging, mining and grazing on taxpayer-owned land. The 2024 rule adopted under former President Joe Biden was meant to refocus the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, which oversees about 10% of land in the U.S. It allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling. But Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said the rule could have blocked access to hundreds of thousands of acres (hectares) of land -- preventing energy and timber production and hurting ranchers who graze on public lands.

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"This action provides greater clarity and predictability for independent oil and natural gas producers--many of whom rely on consistent permitting and leasing processes to operate efficiently and invest in domestic energy supply," Dan Naatz with the Independent Petroleum Association of America said in a statement.

The federal government's vast land holdings are concentrated in Western states including Alaska, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Since taking office, Trump has pursued a flurry of actions aimed at boosting fossil fuel production from those taxpayer-owned sites. The Republican administration also has sought to sideline some renewable energy projects, claiming they were unfairly subsidized under Biden.

Comments

What will be left of America on 20 Jan 2029 when a non-Republican administration finally takes over?

The American people will certainly be poorer thanks to the BBB and the US Treasury will have much, much less money to work with.

Weimar Republic 2.0 that lost its incumbency to this merry band of thieves, fiends, racists, and oligarchs did this to us.

#1 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-05-12 01:40 AM

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