In a blatant attack on scientific integrity, the Interior Department is opening the door for fossil fuel interests to undermine a peer-reviewed study on the impacts of seismic testing on denning polar bears. Read more >
Joel's Latest Posts
Photo: USFWS/Flickr
Sabotaged Science in the Arctic Refuge: Interior Department Works to Undermine Its Own Scientists
February 25, 2020 12:22 PM EDT
Chevron will be in the same building as the new BLM headquarters in Grand Junction, Colorado. Photo: Carbon Visuals/Flickr
Bureau of Land Management Headquarters to Move in with Chevron. Will They Share a Bed?
September 27, 2019 9:07 AM EDT
The Department of the Interior is relocating BLM headquarters to a new office Grand Junction, Colorado, where it will share a building with Chevron and oil and gas lobbying organizations—a symbolic capstone to the administration’s blatant efforts to hand industry the keys to public lands. Read more >
Trump Administration Outdoes Itself on Climate Change Denial, Insists Arctic Warming is Good
May 9, 2019 9:17 AM EDT
Leave it to the Trump administration to detonate the Arctic Council. normally a paragon of congeniality. Read more >
Taking the “Public” out of Public Service, New Interior Secretary Bernhardt Refuses to Address Climate Change
April 30, 2019 1:32 PM EDT
Trump Administration Cabinet officials have hit a number of new lows in recent months, but there is a more troubling trend that gets lost in all the scandal and incompetence. In the past, industry-friendly administrations hired political leaders who would emphasize deregulation and industry priorities, and minimize work on conservation and American health and safety. You may not agree with their priorities, but as long as they operated within the law, they were entitled to impose their policy priorities on the executive branch.
The Trump administration, however, is not concerned about operating within the law, and newly minted Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is exhibit A. Read more >
Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service
Bury the Science, Then Claim It Doesn’t Exist: Interior Department Undermines Arctic Drilling Review
March 13, 2019 1:55 PM EDT
Documents released this this week indicate that the Interior Department failed to consider internal memos from staff scientists raising scientific and environmental concerns about proposed oil and gas operations in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. These were not minor concerns; the memos described significant data gaps for understanding the area’s habitat. Read more >