Last month, the Trump Administration’s Interior Department reignited this debate by proposing to rescind this rule, which would remove conservation as an eligible “use” for BLM land. What the rescission proposal gets wrong is the difference between conservation and preservation.
Articles by Cecilia Fassett
California can’t get out of its own way on geothermal
In the early 2000s, the owners of the Mammoth Pacific geothermal station proposed expanding the plant into an area just east of California’s Yosemite National Park. The project boasted on its website in 2004 that the potential new wells, which would be located in one of the state’s richest heat resources, had been “carefully chosen to reduce or avoid potential environmental...
A Step Forward to Healthier Forests
After passing the House in January with overwhelming bipartisan support, the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) had been at a standstill for the past nine months– until yesterday.
U.S. Sugar’s Farming Revolution in the Everglades
Few examples make that clearer than U.S. Sugar, a Florida-based sugarcane grower and processor that’s turned decades of research and innovation into measurable, on-the-ground environmental progress. From planting and harvesting to processing and transporting roughly 13 percent of America’s refined sugar, the company has incorporated efficient and sustainable practices into each stage of its operation.
US-Africa Conservation Cooperation is a Model for Durable Policy Solutions
What we didn’t see reported was the actual progress made during the sessions (or outside the sessions). An important event quietly brought together the leaders of Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa, along with bipartisan leadership from Congress, and philanthropists representing the Walton Family to the Bezos Earth Fund, all around a central theme of conservation and international cooperation.
AI in Wyoming may soon use more electricity than state’s human residents
On Monday, Mayor Patrick Collins of Cheyenne, Wyoming, announced plans for an AI data center that would consume more electricity than all homes in the state combined, according to The Associated Press. The facility, a joint venture between energy infrastructure company Tallgrass and AI data center developer Crusoe, would start at 1.8 gigawatts and scale up...
Indian Point owner floats restart of shuttered nuclear reactors
Five years after Indian Point started shutting down, the company charged with dismantling the nuclear plant says it could still be restarted — at an estimated cost of $10 billion. “I’m getting so many people asking me from New York if this is possible,” said Holtec International President Kelly Trice. “The answer is yes.” Reviving...
Interior Proposes to Rescind Public Lands Rule, Restoring Balanced, Multiple-Use Management
The Department of the Interior is proposing to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule, aligning with Secretary Doug Burgum’s commitment to restoring balance in federal land management by prioritizing multiple-use access, empowering local decision-making and supporting responsible energy development, ranching, grazing, timber production and recreation across America’s public lands. The 2024 Public...
New Mexico and DARPA Launch Quantum Frontier Project
New Mexico has entered the national race to develop quantum computing with a new partnership between the state and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the agreement this week, launching the Quantum Frontier Project as part of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI). The project aims to determine whether utility-scale quantum computing — machines powerful...
Italy, US agree to boost LNG ties and infrastructure investment
Italy and the United States on Monday vowed to deepen energy ties including through increased exports to Italy of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as Europe continues to seek alternatives to Russian energy supplies following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin and U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, after talks in Rome, pledged...









