“For four years, the Trump administration cut legal corners and rushed through massive drilling and mining projects at the behest of corporations. Now the Biden administration is rightfully attempting to take stock of the damage and make sure the agency is following the law, instead of rubber-stamping destructive projects that were in the pipeline, Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director at the Center for Western Priorities, a public lands watchdog group, said in a release. Once Deb Haaland is confirmed as Interior secretary, she’ll be able to take long-term actions to make sure the Interior department prioritizes communities and conservation, not extractive industry lobbyists.”
By Rebecca Beitsch and Rachel Frazin - 01/21/21 02:08 PM EST
Some Western Republicans have launched a longshot bid to block President Biden’s executive orders to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and revoking the permit for the Keystone pipeline.
The lawmakers, many from big energy-producing states, plan to introduce two pieces of legislation that would give Congress a say in the decisions.
“I urge President Biden to do what the Obama administration refused to do and submit the Paris Agreement to the Senate for consideration as required under the Constitution,” Sen. Steve Daines
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The executive order signed by Biden, the third of 17 that he signed on his first day in office, will formally recommit the U.S. to the global agreement in 30 days, ending the U.S. status as the only country in the world not participating in the deal.