Trump reopens offshore drilling
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that could reopen offshore drilling in California and Alaska, as well as in the Atlantic Ocean. The move reverses a plan implemented in the final months of President Barack Obama’s administration to minimize leasing in the waters off Alaska and California. Offshore drilling proved divisive in Alaska. In 2015, HCN Correspondent Krista Langlois profiled a Barrow, Alaska, family divided over the risks of drilling nearby.
“It would take years to rewrite federal leasing plans and open up these areas to drilling.” https://t.co/lYUHyfUtON — John Upton (@johnupton) April 28, 2017
ICYMI: We fact-checked monument critics’ claims
This week saw no end of news from D.C. with big implications for the West. On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order requiring a review of all monuments established since 1996 over 100,000 acres. The designation of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah has stoked antagonism from local Republicans. Contributing Editor Jonathan Thompson fact-checked common critiques of the monument and of monuments in general. For more context, explore our past coverage:
Land transfer advocates steer their focus to monuments
With more monuments, Republican backlash mounts
100 days: Trump and the environment
This Saturday will mark Trump’s 100th day in office. In collaboration with our partners at Climate Desk, we took a look at what his administration has accomplished and what the implications are for climate change and the environment out West and across the country. Read up on his mixed-up policies on energy, how his actions hurt the environment and already marginalized communities and how they alter the course of regulation at the EPA.
A federal court paused its review of the Clean Power Plan, at the request of the Trump administration. Last month, Trump signed an executive order starting the rollback of Obama’s signature climate change policy. Out West, the energy mix will likely continue to shift away from coal anyway, D.C. Correspondent Elizabeth Shogren reports.
Spare a care for the cactus
With so much going on in the national news, we kept an eye out close to home this week. Here’s everything else you might have missed on hcn.org:
Bundy Ranch standoff case ruled a mistrial
Montana refuge divides natives and ranchers
Colorado’s Front Range is inundated with water
Local power gets results for Thompson Divide
West Obsessed podcast: The March for Science, out West
Photos: Canada’s coal flows into Montana’s streams
Opinion: My front seat view of climate change in California
Opinion: Why the West can learn from East Africa
Opinion: Marching for science feels good, but does it do any good?
Did you get through all that? Here’s a little treat:
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