G2. Local Greens

File:  ltr to Congress, 76 scientists 2012.pdfResource Type: Letters

File:  ltr to Congress, 76 scientists 2012.pdfResource Type: Letters

Bill would give Interior Secretary Doug Burgum a two-year window to approve projects a future president could not undo

DENVER — A bipartisan permitting bill headed for a Senate vote right after the election would give President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum two years to approve data centers, nuclear facilities, and fossil fuel projects on public lands, then make those approvals nearly impossible to reverse, according to a new analysis from the Center for Western Priorities.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, written and sponsored by Senators Mike Lee, Shelley Moore Capito, Martin Heinrich, and Sheldon Whitehouse would be disastrous for public lands:

• Industry lock-in: Section 1401 bars agencies from altering any permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, unless they meet a “clear and convincing evidence” standard far higher than agencies normally face.
• Public lock-out: Courts could no longer pause projects with botched environmental reviews. Construction would continue while reviews are redone, agencies could not act on what they find, and challengers would get just 150 days to sue.
• Taxpayer price tag: Section 1402 would make taxpayers pay developers 50 to 100 percent of construction costs if a future administration slows a whole category of projects, such as gas plants or nuclear fuel facilities, with money drawn from a Treasury fund that requires no vote of Congress.

Burgum’s Interior Department is already reviewing applications for around 17 data centers on public lands, and it attempted to approve the first one by skipping environmental review and public comment entirely. If this bill passes, that could become the norm for permitting data centers on public lands. The bill would shield permits issued by the Trump administration for everything from drilling to nuclear waste storage on public lands from revocation by a future administration, while Trump’s cancellations of wind and solar projects would remain in place. The bill also rewrites the National Historic Preservation Act, drawing opposition from nine national Tribal organizations and the All Pueblo Council of Governors.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Aaron Weiss.

“Senator Heinrich says his bill ‘will age very well over time.’ As it’s currently written, it will indeed age, locking in data centers and a new nuclear legacy on our public lands for generations—after all, the half-life of plutonium-239 is about 24,000 years.

“Any permitting deal passed under this administration must strengthen the guardrails that keep Burgum and Trump in check, not hand them a blank check. Senator Heinrich should pump the brakes on this bill during the lame duck session and work with leaders in the next Congress to get it right.”

Read our full analysis of the bill on Westwise.

Learn more:

• New map tracks data center applications moving through BLM’s pipeline – Center for Western Priorities
• 6 threats to public lands in the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act – The Wilderness Society
• NRDC Assessment of BAAJA, the 2026 Permitting and Transmission Bill – National Resources Defense Council
• Hard Questions About the Permitting Bill – National Resources Defense Council

 

Feature image: The Utah Data Center located in Bluffdale, Utah; Swilsonmc/Wikimedia Commons 

 

The post Senate permitting bill would cut the public out of public lands and lock in Trump-era data center, nuclear, and fossil fuel approvals appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

A bipartisan permitting bill headed for a Senate vote right after the election would give President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum two years to approve data centers, nuclear facilities, and fossil fuel projects on public lands, then make those approvals nearly impossible to undo. While the bill would help speed the country’s grid buildout, it currently contains three provisions that would be disastrous for public lands, writes CWP Executive Director Aaron Weiss.

Section 1401 of the bill bars agencies from altering any permit in effect on or after September 16, 2026, unless they meet a “clear and convincing evidence” standard far higher than agencies normally face. Courts could no longer pause projects with botched environmental reviews. Construction would continue while the review is redone, and agencies can’t act on the review findings. Opponents of federal actions would get just 150 days to sue. Section 1402 would make taxpayers pay developers 50 to 100 percent of construction costs if a future administration slows a whole category of projects, like gas plants or nuclear fuel facilities, essentially locking in the priorities of the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management is currently considering at least 35 data center-related applications covering more than 24,000 acres across six Western states. The bill would essentially shield permits for everything from data centers to drilling issued by this administration from reversal by future administrations. Trump’s cancellations of wind and solar projects, meanwhile, stay in place. The bill, as written, also weakens the National Historic Preservation Act, over objections from nine Tribal organizations and the All Pueblo Council of Governors.

Senator Martin Heinrich, who’s co-sponsoring the bill, once said every person “deserves a chance to provide input” on public land management. His bill, as written, gives Burgum and Trump a green light to cut them out. Read more in the latest post on Westwise.

GAO to probe Trump mineral deals

Federal watchdogs plan to investigate what safeguards the Trump administration is abiding by when taking financial stakes in mining companies and separately examine the Interior Department’s decision to create a new division overseeing offshore energy development. Senator Heinrich and Representative Jared Huffman requested the review from the Government Accountability Office.

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Quote of the day

It is overwhelmingly likely that the USDA’s planned closures and relocations violate Congress’s express restriction on those activities… There is no public interest in allowing the government to violate federal law.”

—U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, Summit Daily

Picture This

@usinterior

Hot moose summer is over. Welcome to cool moose fall.

At @grandtetonnps, autumn means the moose rut is underway. Bull moose roam in search of females, size up their competition and sometimes put those massive antlers to the test.

Romance, rivalry and really big antlers. Fall has arrived in the Tetons.

Photo by Kevin Yu Shi

Feature image: Spent nuclear fuel at the Hanford Nuclear Site, Wikimedia Commons

The post The Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

The government’s approval of the Jackdaw gasfield, off Aberdeen, has been widely condemned by environmental campaigners.

Previous protest against Equinor, one of the companies behind the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields. Photo: © Ron Fassbender

Opponents of the decision include the campaign network, the Weald Action Group, which with Sarah Finch, secured a landmark judgement later used to quash the original Jackdaw permission.

The government said today Jackdaw could begin extracting gas within months and increase UK production by about 6% at its peak. But it admitted that the field would not reduce household bills.

A decision has yet to be made on the Rosebank oilfield, off Shetland. The Guardian reported this afternoon that the government was leaning towards rejecting development of Rosebank. Oil from that field would be exported and sold on international markets.

Jackdaw and Rosebank were approved by the Conservatives. But in 2025 the Scottish Court of Sessions confirmed that both decisions were unlawful.

The judge said the Finch Ruling by the UK Supreme Court should apply restrospectively to both Rosebank and Jackdaw.

The Finch case had successfully argued that decisionmakers must consider the climate impact of greenhouse gases released when fossil fuels were eventually burned. The original decisions on Jackdaw and Rosebank had not taken account of these emissions, known as downstream or Scope 3.

Weald Action Group reaction “classic case of misdirection”

Campaigner Sarah Finch said:

“Giving the go ahead to Jackdaw is a mistake and classic case of misdirection.

“The UK has the oldest and least efficient housing stock in Europe with one in five homes lacking proper insulation.

“Instead of approving a gas field that will do nothing to cut heating bills this winter or make a meaningful difference to energy security, the UK government should be investing in a systematic and comprehensive home energy efficiency programme”.

Campaigner Kirsty Clough said:

“Governments around the world already plan to produce over 90% more gas than is compatible with keeping global average temperature rise below 1.5oC.

“At home droughts and wildfires blighted our country this summer. What more evidence do leaders need that the climate crisis is not some distant threat for future administrations to deal with? It is real and it is happening now.

“Approving Jackdaw will only make the situation worse”.

Other campaign reaction ClientEarth – “we pay price of extreme weather”

Kyle Lischak, head of UK at Client Earth

“The companies drilling our oil and gasfield will soon leave the empty oilfields with record profits, whilst we pay the price of extreme weather for decades to come.”

The organisation also said:

“The approval of Jackdaw showed the strength of the fossil fuel industry’s lobbying. To stop Rosebank, the Government must feel our collective opposition is even stronger.

“This is the final stage of a years-long fight by many individuals, communities and organisations. If enough people speak out now, we can make sure Rosebank is rejected once and for all.”

E3G – “more drilling is the wrong answer”

Ellie Mae O’Hagan, the UK energy programme lead, said:

“After a summer of deadly heatwaves, the public has made up its mind: more drilling is the wrong answer. If the prime minister wants a decade in power to change the country, he should invest in heat pumps and solar, not tax breaks for the oil and gas companies driving up our bills and polluting the planet.”

Friends of the Earth – “bridge to nowhere”

Energy campaigner, Danny Gross, said:

“Giving Jackdaw the green light is a huge blow to Labour’s green credentials. It comes the same day the UN warns the world must cut carbon emissions by nearly a fifth in the next four years to avoid climate catastrophe – and just weeks before the Prime Minister is due to attend the global climate talks in Turkey.

“With extreme heat, devastating floods, wildfires, droughts and rising food prices already giving us a glimpse of a future of climate chaos, the science is clear – there can be no new oil and gas if we’re to avert the worst of climate breakdown.

“Jackdaw is a bridge to nowhere. It will slow down the shift to cheaper, cleaner energy and the green jobs of the future.

“The coming months are now crucial for the government. Andy Burnham must put ordinary people before the interests of the oil and gas lobby and polluters by saying no to Rosebank and a third Heathrow runway and putting a pause on the energy-hungry data centres threatening communities and the environment. The government can’t keep allowing developments that blow holes in our carbon ambitions, fuel the climate crisis and put our future at risk.”

Greenpeace – “toxic grip of fossil fuel lobbyists”

Ami McCarthy, head of politics, said:

“Approving Jackdaw shows the toxic grip fossil fuel lobbyists still hold over our energy policy. Andy Burnham promised pragmatism, but there is nothing pragmatic about rubber-stamping a project that won’t lower energy bills, won’t boost energy security and will create just 27 full-time jobs.

“What Jackdaw is guaranteed to do is generate record profits for Shell and Equinor while supercharging the climate chaos hitting families here and abroad. Going on to approve Rosebank would detonate an even bigger carbon bomb, releasing as much carbon as 56 coal plants operating for a year.

“True pragmatism means severing our reliance on expensive oil and gas that leaves British households broke, supercharges extreme weather and leaves our energy security at the mercy of petrostates.”

Uplift – “caving to oil industry”

Tessa Khan, executive director,said:

“This benefits oil giants and their shareholders and doesn’t make life more affordable as Burnham promise. Clean energy is how we lower bills, reindustrialise regions and increase public control – not by caving to an oil industry making obscene profits while pushing up bills, laying off workers and driving the heatwaves we saw this summer.”

She also said:

“Jackdaw will provide around just 2 per cent of our gas demand for roughly ten years. It has been oversold and won’t stop the decline in North Sea jobs, as it will be largely unmanned and operated remotely.”

She added:

“Labour’s climate credibility is on the line. No new oil and gasfields are compatible with safe climate limits.”

“Shell will be cheering this decision but it won’t knock a penny off our energy bills, which is what’s keeping people up at night, or make a meaningful difference to our gas supply.”

President Trump signed legislation Tuesday making Chiricahua America’s 64th national park, the first new national park in six years.

Nicknamed the “Wonderland of Rocks,” Chiricahua is known for its balanced boulders, rhyolite pinnacles, and other rock formations. It’s one of several sky islands in southeastern Arizona, which are isolated mountain ranges that rise up out of the surrounding desert “sea” and provide important habitat to species including black bears, jaguars, and more than half of the continent’s birds.

President Calvin Coolidge protected Chiricahua, located in southeastern Arizona, as a national monument in 1924. The park’s boundaries stay the same, and the law protects Tribal access for traditional ceremonies on land that was once home to the Chiricahua Apache. At least five similar bills stalled before Representative Juan Ciscomani and Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego pushed this one through.

Local leaders are counting on a tourism bump. “More visitors can mean more customers for our hotels, restaurants, and small businesses,” Willcox Mayor Greg Hancock said.

Whether the Park Service can handle them is another matter. Agency officials declined to say whether they will add staff after deep workforce cuts under Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Additionally, the park currently needs mold abatement in employee housing as well as other repairs, according to a review of park service projects by the Center for Western Priorities.

62 percent of national forests within half-mile of backcountry roads

A new map created by The Wilderness Society finds 310,860 miles of road or other routes in national forests are currently open to motorized vehicles—enough to drive to the moon and a quarter of the way back.

Despite the staggering amount of miles already open to off-road vehicles, motorcycles, and snowmobiles, the Trump administration is proposing to open even more of our national forests to motorized vehicles by revising the agency’s Travel Management Rule. The revision would flip the current “closed unless designated open” system on its head so all routes, including hiking and biking trails, would be open to motorized use unless marked closed.

Quick hits New map reveals extent of data center applications on public lands in the West

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Lawmakers could face a data center backlash if permitting reform bill passes

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Quote of the day

The Chiricahuas deserve national park status. They are one of America’s most spectacular and wild places… That said, this designation will bring more visitors, which will require more resources. Doug Burgum and Congress need to fully fund our park system, rather than starving it.”

—Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, Politico Pro

Picture This

@usinterior

America’s newest national park is rock solid!

Chiricahua is officially our 64th national park.

Known as the “Wonderland of Rocks,” this spectacular Arizona landscape was shaped by massive volcanic eruptions and millions of years of erosion, creating the towering rock pinnacles that define Chiricahua today.

But there’s much more to this place than the rocks. Chiricahua National Park is home to an incredible diversity of plants and wildlife and preserves thousands of years of human history, from Indigenous peoples and Chiricahua Apaches to Buffalo Soldiers, pioneers, ranchers and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

A new name for a place Americans have treasured for generations.

Photos by Sean Parker | @seanparkerphotography

Feature image: Massai Point in Chiricahua National Park; Source: nps.gov

The post Chiricahua becomes America’s 64th national park appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

BLM is currently considering at least 35 applications for data centers and related infrastructure on public lands in six Western states, covering more than 24,000 acres

DENVER — The Bureau of Land Management appears to be considering at least 17 applications to build data center campuses on public land in the West, according to a new interactive map from the Center for Western Priorities. Our BLM Data Center Tracker, built from the agency’s own land records, also identifies at least 13 likely applications for infrastructure to support AI data centers, including access roads, water pipelines, telecom lines, and transmission lines.

Altogether, the map shows 35 active data center-related applications covering more than 24,000 acres in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Last month, press reports and a congressional letter put the number at roughly 12 proposals over 17,600 acres.

What the map shows

Of the 35 active cases on the map, it appears 17 are applications for a data center campus, identifiable by “Data Center,” “Gigasite,” or “Project” in the case name. Because some of these cases seem to be colocated the 17 applications may represent fewer distinct projects. Another 13 applications appear to be for supporting infrastructure, and five cannot be classified into either category based on publicly available information. The best way to use the map is to click into individual cases and read the text associated with the application.

Some of these proposals dwarf a typical data center. NPR reported that Valar Atomics’ Project Beehive in eastern Utah would cover more than 9,000 acres and be powered by small modular nuclear reactors, a technology that has not yet been deployed at commercial scale. A single developer, Copia, has filed 16 site and infrastructure proposals across five states, including an application associated with a 2,520-acre parcel near Las Vegas.

A rush with no rules

Unlike for solar, wind, drilling, or mining, there is no established permitting process for building data centers on public land. This absence hasn’t slowed the administration’s rush to build them, though. In June, BLM permitted a 167-megawatt data center near Boulder City, Nevada, without an environmental review. The Interior Board of Land Appeals halted the project in September after Boulder City and conservation groups challenged it. This week, a judge sent the project back for a proper environmental review.

On September 24, Representatives Jared Huffman, Dina Titus, and 13 other members of Congress sent Interior Secretary Doug Burgum 18 questions about data centers on public lands, including whether the public will be able to weigh in on these proposals. They asked for answers by October 8.

The public’s view on data centers is clear. In a July poll of likely Wyoming voters, more than 90 percent of respondents said data centers are not an acceptable use of public lands. Nationally, Pew Research Center found the share of Americans who say data centers are mostly bad for the environment rose from 39 percent in January to 54 percent in September.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Lauren Bogard:

“Data centers are not like oil, gas, or minerals, which are extracted from public lands because that’s where they exist. Unlike mining or drilling, there are no natural resources that make it necessary to develop data centers on public lands, and there is no reason to assume data centers belong on them.

“Before even considering putting data centers on public lands, the Trump administration should be obligated to solicit public feedback on this idea. None of these projects should move forward without a permitting framework that lets communities decide where, how, or if data centers get built. That process must include robust, site-specific environmental review and public input opportunities, as well as meaningful, negotiated community benefits that ensure the public is compensated when private companies profit from public lands.”

Methodology

Application (or case) data used to build the map comes from BLM’s Mineral & Land Records System, accessed through its public ArcGIS service across all four application statuses: pending, authorized, interim, and closed. Because BLM has no “data center” category for right-of-way cases, CWP runs two searches: one matching case and applicant names against terms such as “data,” “hyperscale,” “gigasite,” and “modular reactor,” and a second matching applicant names against developers confirmed to be active in the sector. The second search exists because early-stage cases are often filed with no name at all, under LLCs with names that give no hint of their purpose.

Each search returns roughly 300 raw hits, most of them false positives such as legacy radio licenses that use the acronym “SMR.” CWP’s pipeline reviews every hit against corporate records and press coverage. Parcel boundaries come directly from BLM’s survey data. The map is refreshed regularly and was last updated October 16.

This tracker provides a baseline count. An application with no name and an unidentified applicant won’t appear in this count, so the real number of data center-related applications received by BLM may be higher than this map shows. BLM often records zero acres for early-stage applications, so the map likely also undercounts acreage. Finally, a right-of-way application (which all of these are) is a request, not an approval, and pending cases may be withdrawn by the developer or denied by BLM.

Note: The public-facing API used to pull this data from BLM’s Mineral & Land Records System is unavailable as of October 20 at 10am MDT. The map reflects BLM data as of October 16, 2026, and CWP will refresh it (if possible) once the system is back online.

Data and full methodology: https://github.com/Center-for-Western-Priorities/blm-data-centers

Learn more:

• The Trump administration is trying to build data centers on public lands – Westwise
• Data Center Doug wants to “manufacture intelligence” on your public lands – Westwise
• Democrats Demand Answers on Trump Plan to Build Data Centers on Public Lands – Truthout
• Trump Is Considering More Data Centers on Public Lands Than Previously Known – Washington Sun
• The Wilderness Society calls for AI data center moratorium on public lands – The Wilderness Society

The post New map tracks data center applications moving through BLM’s pipeline appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Organisations in the North Yorkshire village of Burniston are urging the Environment Agency (EA) to extend its consultation on plans for drilling and fracking.

Photo: DrillOrDrop

The deadline for comments is tomorrow (21 October 2026).

But local campaigners and councillors have called for more time to review two documents on the environmental permit, which the EA revised earlier this month.

The EA acknowledged what it called “drafting errors and “a small number of minor typographical errors and inconsistencies”.

Burniston Parish Council has called for an extension to the consultation of at least two months.

The local campaign group, Frack Free Coastal Communities, said it needed more time for a “comprehensive analysis of shortcomings that affect the EA’s technical analysis and appraisal of the permit application”.

DrillOrDrop asked the EA to respond to the local complaints and calls for more time. The organisation replied on 21 October 2026 refusing to extend the consultation. More details soon.

The organisation initially said it needed more time to reply to us. A spokesperson described the issue as “a fairly complex matter” that required “a lot of different input from different officers and teams”.

The spokesperson added:

“it may take a day or two to provide a response”.

Details

The EA announced on 3 August 2026 that it was “minded to approve” the permit for gas exploration and lower-volume fracking at a site on the edge of Burniston.

But after widespread criticism of the draft permit, the EA extended the consultation and then issued revised versions of the draft decision document and the draft permit.

Analysis of the amended documents by DrillOrDrop found at least 58 changes to the updated draft decision document and more than 20 in the draft permit report here.

Many complaints had not been addressed in the revisions.

The parish council chair, Richard Parsons, told DrillOrDrop:

“Burniston Parish Council and members of our community have become extremely concerned about the changes that have been made to the Environmental Agency report into the Burniston Gas drill licence. There have, very recently, been a large number of changes many of which do not just cover minor errors.

“We appreciate that the EA realise that in order to hold a proper public consultation the end date needed extending. Taking into account the volume and importance of the changes, closing this consultation on October 21st does not leave enough time for anyone to respond in any detail. Many of our residents did not receive the change of consultation date letter, from the EA, until October 14th.

“It is worth noting that most of the changes and the extension, were made as a result of the original consultation, whereby the many and important EA errors in the report, were pointed out. 

“Burniston parish councillors have written to the Environment Agency requesting the public consultation is adequately extended to allow everyone to read, understand and comment in a timely manner. We would suggest this extension is for at least a further two months and whenever the EA make further changes, further extensions are applied.”

Frack Free Coastal Communities (FFCC) said:

“Revisions to the draft decision document are extensive and much more than the correction of minor typographical errors.

“The EA has admitted that they are aligning their terminology with that used by the applicant. Given the contradictions and inconsistencies in that terminology, some of which have been made worse by the revisions, proper public scrutiny of the revised document requires significant time.

“To close the consultation on 21st October does not give sufficient time and goes against the spirit of the EA’s published code of practice for consultations.”

FFCC also said:

“Letters to local residents informing them of the revisions and the new consultation deadline only began arriving on 12th October and some residents have not yet received theirs. This is contrary to the standards the EA holds itself to.”

It added:

“we require additional time to scrutinise the terminology used in the revised draft and compare it to the applicant’s documentation so that we can submit a comprehensive analysis of shortcomings that affect the EA’s technical analysis and appraisal of the permit application.

“This includes lack of evidence to support conclusions; confusion over the meaning of ‘phase’ and ‘stage’ of hydraulic fracturing and consequently over the potential volumes of fracking fluid to be used; and confusion about the purpose of the hydraulic fracturing (proppant squeeze) in the specific context of the target formations for the proposed well.”

DrillOrDrop will report separately on responses to the revised documents.

• The permit consultation is separate from the planning application, which was refused by North Yorkshire Council earlier this year.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s deputy chief of staff, Gregory Wischer, told a federal judge Monday that the felling of more than 500 trees at Washington’s East Potomac Golf Links over Columbus Day weekend was not part of President Donald Trump’s plan to renovate the course.

Wischer, a political appointee who oversees many of Trump’s D.C. “beautification” projects, pinned the work on a 2019 Park Service landscape report. He also sparred with Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands, who testified last week that Wischer directed him to proceed on October 5 and that acting director Jessica Bowron approved the plan the next day. “I never said go execute,” Wischer said Monday. “The direction came out of your mouth,” plaintiffs’ attorney Abbe Lowell shot back.

Lowell then showed photos from Trump’s June 28 tour of the course with Burgum and architect Tom Fazio, including one of Wischer carrying conceptual golf course proposals. Wischer acknowledged that Fazio’s son texted him the design Trump posted Sunday, and said he “can’t recall” contacting Tom Fazio. Judge Ana Reyes said there was “no universe” in which the timing was a coincidence.

On Sunday, Trump announced the course would close on November 15 for 15 months under a plan Interior developed “under the auspices of Secretary Doug Burgum.” That night, the Justice Department told Reyes there was “no final agency action” because the Park Service “has not completed its review.”

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Forest Service employees warned against sharing the chief’s travel plans after he visited Juneau

Juneau Independent

Yellowstone receives record $105 million gift for infrastructure, conservation, access

WyoFile

In Fairbanks, Interior Secretary Burgum touts deregulation and data centers

KUAC

Judge grills Trump administration over plans to overhaul Washington golf course

Associated Press | New York Times | POLITICO

Arizona joins legal revolt over Trump’s Colorado River plan

POLITICO Pro

Data center project proposed on federal land gets sent back to square one

Nevada Current

Quote of the day

The irreversible destruction these provisions would cause to treasured places like the Arctic, the Boundary Waters, Bears Ears, and Chaco is simply not a reasonable or necessary tradeoff.”

—The Wilderness Society on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act

Picture This

@usinterior

The marbled orb weaver, aka the “pumpkin spider,” gets its seasonal nickname from its round abdomen and brilliant orange coloring.

These colorful spiders build wheel-shaped webs that are perfect for catching insects that wander into their carefully spun traps.

This one was spotted sitting on a red fall leaf at @ShenandoahNPS, looking ready for spooky season.

Photo by Alan Downie

Feature image: East Potomac Golf Course at Hain’s Point; Source: National Parks Gallery/Picryl

The post Trump aide attempts to dodge blame for DC golf course tree cutting spree appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

A legal letter from a campaigner has warned Surrey County Council that approval of drilling and production at the Horse Hill oil site would be unlawful.

Horse Hill, Surrey, January, 2026. Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize

The site, near Redhill, was stripped of its planning permission in a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in June 2024. The court said the original permission granted in 2019 was unlawful because it failed to assess the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the end-use of the oil.

Oil production has been suspended since October 2024.

The site operator, Horse Hill Developments Limited (HHDL), it is now seeking to reinstate the permission. If granted, this would allow the company to drill four new production wells and extract 600,000 tonnes of oil over 20 years.

Use of the oil would release about two million tonnes of greenhouse gases, HHDL has estimated in new environmental information.

Dennis May, a member of Frack Free Misson who supported the Supreme Court case by Sarah Finch and the Weald Action Group, is the latest campaigner to oppose the application. (More details here and here)

In a letter from the law firm, Leigh Day, he argues:

• The assessment of emissions from the use of the oil was “so flawed” that permission could not lawfully be granted under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations.
• The proposal contravened local planning policy, including the influential development plan, because it had not demonstrated the need for more drilling and production. The plans would also have “a significant adverse effect on the climate”.
• The proposal was not supported by national policy

The letter concluded:

“The Proposed Development is contrary to Development Plan policy, will have no guaranteed benefits for national energy security, receives no national policy support, and will have a major adverse impact on the climate.

“For all of these reasons permission should be refused. A decision to grant consent, on the basis of the information currently before the Council, would be unlawful, irrational and in breach of the EIA Regulations.”

Core fuel

HHDL had characterised the project as a “core fuel sector” activity under the Energy Act 2023. This seeks to maintain and improve core fuel sector resilience and ensure continuity of supply in the UK.

But Mr May’s letter said projects for the commercial extraction of crude oil were not included in the statutory definition of the core fuel sector. The letter said:

“HHD issimply wrong in law in its assertion that the activity is wihtin the core fuel sector regime”.

It added:

“HHD is wrong to seek to conflate its project for the commercial extraction of crude oil with the powers of the Secretary of State to safeguard downstream core fuel supplies.”

Climate impact

The company had also argued in the new information that the emissions from use of the oil would be “not significant” for climate change and that drilling and production at Horse Hill would contribute to national energy security.

Mr May’s letter said there was “no credible basis for suggesting the impact on the climate would not be significant”.

HHDL’s assessment of the climate impacts was “deeply flawed”, the letter said. Methods used to give context to the significance of the emissions did not follow relevant guidance and/or were misleading, it said.

The letter added

“When the correct principles are applied it is absolutely obvious that the grant of permission for new oil and gas development … will have a major adverse effect on the climate.

“The applicant’s scattergun calculations may make it difficult to establish the precise magnitude of the effect with confidence, but it will self-evidently be significant in EIA terms. Any suggestion to the contrary is smoke and mirrors.”

“The FEI [further environmental information] submitted by HHD is logically unsound and legally inadequate. On that basis alone, permission for the proposed development should be refused.”

Policy support

The letter said HHDL was wrong to argue that the application benefitted from “active national policy support” in the National Policy Statement for Energy

It said the statement did not support the argument that new oil and gas extraction should be considered as infrastructure for which there was an urgent need.

Mr May countered any argument that the application was not for new oil and gas infrastructure. He said previous lawful planning permissions at Horse Hill had been for exploration and appraisal, not production. The first permission for production had been quashed by the Supreme Court.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – the blueprint for decision-making – removed the previous positive weight given to the economic benefits of onshore oil and gas development, the letter added. The NPPF also removed the requirement on decision-makers to “plan positively” for onshore oil and gas.

Decision date

No date has been confirmed for deciding the Horse Hill application.

But Surrey County Council told us today the January 2027 meeting of the planning committee was “currently looking the most likely”.

This meeting is expected to be on Wednesday 27 January 2027 at 10.30am. The committee usually meets in the council chamber at county council headquarters, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8EF.

energy B has announced an agreement that would give it total control of the suspended Horse Hill oil site in Surrey.

Horse Hill oil site in Surrey. Source: Google Earth downloaded 21/7/2026

In a stock market statement this morning, the company said it had agreed to buy the remaining stakes in Horse Hill, held by Arkadian Strategic Metals plc and Azzuro Resources.

The deals will cost a total of £167,748, energy B said.

In June 2026, energy B agreed to buy the majority interest in the site, near Gatwick Airport, then held by UK Oil & Gas plc (UKOG).

Today’s announcement would give energy B full ownership of the operator, Horse Hill Developments Limited (HHDL), the company said.

All three deals must be approved by the industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).

Energy B said formal application for the change of control was made to the NSTA on 30 September 2026.

DrillOrDrop recently asked NSTA whether the deal with UK Oil & Gas had been approved. The regulator said it could not comment on individual cases.

Production halted

Oil production at Horse Hill has been suspended since October 2024. This followed the landmark Finch ruling by the Supreme Court, which quashed planning permission at the site.

The court ruled that the consent had been granted unlawfully in 2019. The decision-maker, Surrey County Council, had failed to assess the greenhouse gas emissions from using Horse Hill oil, known as downstream or scope 3 emissions.

HHDL submitted a new planning application in May 2026 for further drilling and long-term oil production at Horse Hill.

The application has been widely criticised by environmental campaigners, particularly over the assessment of scope 3 emissions. (Details here and here.)

Surrey County Council suggested today that a decision on the Horse Hill plans would not be made in 2026. A spokesperson said the date of the deciding planning committee meeting had not been confirmed but January 2027 was “currently looking the most likely”. More details

Neil Ritson, chief executive of energy B, said today:

“These minority interest buyout agreements are important to us as they will give us day to day control of the Gatwick energy site going forward. This will allow us to streamline our approach to the future field development and in dealing with the UK Government and regulators.

“We hope to restart production at the site early 2027 but timing depends on the discussions that are ongoing with the Surrey Country Council and the field’s planning amendments that are currently before them.”

Fundraising

energy B also said it had received firm commitments to raise £100,000 in share issues.

These include a £50,000 conditional subscription from the company’s chair, David Lenigas.

He said today:

“Consolidating our ownership of the Gatwick energy site into one single entity under energy B paves the way to reopen the site and supply British oil and gas to the British market.

“Historically, all of the oil from Gatwick has gone to the Fawley refinery near Southampton. It is the largest refinery in the UK, and it supplies about a fifth of the nation’s refinery capacity.

“Around 85% of its products travel to five distribution terminals plus, Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham airports. The oil from HH-1 also goes into the mix for Fawley’s dedicated jet fuel pipelines to the major airports.

“The Gatwick energy site can again be a home-grown contributor to Britain’s energy security.”

The decision on plans for drilling and long-term oil production at the Horse Hill oil site in Surrey is unlikely to be made this year (2026).

DrillOrDrop asked Surrey County Council when the application was likely to be considered by its planning committee. The council told us this morning:

“The January [2027] meeting is currently looking the most likely but is still to be confirmed”.

The January 2027 meeting is likely to be on Wednesday 27 January 2027 at 10.30am. The committee usually meets in the council chamber at county council headquarters, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8EF.

Application

The application, by the site operator, Horse Hill Developments Limited (HHDL), seeks permission to drill four new production wells and extract oil for 20 years.

A previous permission for the work, granted in 2019, was quashed by the Supreme Court in the landmark Finch Ruling in June 2024.

The court said the permission had been unlawful because Surrey County Council failed to consider the climate impact of emissions from using Horse Hill oil.

Oil production at the site has been suspended since October 2024.

HHDL submitted a new application to reinstate permission in May 2026. It was published in mid June 2026.

Since then, environmental campaigners have objected to the application, particularly its claims that there would be “no significant” impact on climate change or that it had national policy support.

The most recent criticism warned the county council that approval of the application would be unlawful. Report coming soon.

• energy B, the company which agreed to buy the majority stake in HHDL, announced today a deal to buy the remaining share. More details soon.

Correction: January meeting of Surrey’s planning meeting is on Wednesday 27 January 2027 (not 2026 as previously stated)

As opposition to AI data centers mounts across the country, the Trump administration is moving full speed ahead to approve and construct them on America’s public lands, writes Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Lauren Bogard in a new Westwise post.

The Bureau of Land Management is considering at least 35 active data center-related applications covering over 24,000 acres in six Western states, according to CWP’s new BLM Data Center Tracker. Many of the applications list no acreage, so the true footprint is likely larger.

Unlike oil, gas, wind, or solar, there is no framework for conducting environmental reviews, collecting public input, or returning revenue to taxpayers for data centers built on public lands. Additionally, data centers are not like oil, gas, or minerals, which are extracted from public lands because that’s where they exist. There are no natural resources that make it necessary to develop data centers on public lands, and there is no reason to assume data centers belong on them.

Meanwhile, opposition is building. The Wilderness Society called for a moratorium on data centers on public land earlier this month, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is pressing congressional appropriators to block the projects. In a July survey for Keep It Public Wyoming, over 90 percent of likely voters said data centers are not an acceptable use of public lands. Nationally, Pew found the share of Republicans who say data centers are mostly bad for the environment jumped from 31 to 47 percent since January. Learn more in the latest Westwise post on Substack.

Quick hits Trump geothermal lease sale collides with planned Nevada solar farms

Reuters

Government watchdog finds BLM may be breaking the law by allowing foreign agents to mine on public land

Politico

Federal contract spending on public lands in Colorado dropped $189 million last year

Summit Daily

Trump outlines rapid plan to close and overhaul D.C. golf course

New York Times

Final plans for Trump’s arch appear to abandon his ‘military complex’ idea

Washington Post

Dropping Lake Powell levels reveal ‘crime against nature’

USA Today

Trump doubles down on Reflecting Pool vandalism claims without providing evidence

ABC News

Trump rule lets Alaska hunters lure bears with bacon-greased doughnuts

New York Times | Politico

Quote of the day

Baiting bears with piles of doughnuts, meat scraps, and dog food to lure them into shooting range and gun them down is indefensible and inexcusable as a federal policy decision.”

—Kitty Block, president of Humane World for Animals, New York Times

Picture This

@usinterior

Every autumn, thousands of migrating birds arrive at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. Sandhill cranes, snow geese and other waterfowl fill the wetlands, creating one of the Southwest’s most spectacular wildlife displays.

Photo by Robert Dunn

Feature image: Utah Data Center located in Bluffdale, Utah and run by the National Security Agency, Source: Swilsonmc, Wikimedia Commons

The post The Trump administration is trying to build data centers on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

 

Concerned about Project Ranger?  Join State Emergency Response Commission Virtual Meeting on Thursday, October 22nd

Did you know that this week Tessa Snyder, the Hazardous Materials Coordinator, confirmed in writing that she recently met privately with Castelion Corporation about their Project Ranger, a 1,000-acre hypersonic missile motor manufacturing and static firing testing complex – the largest in the United States – on the West Mesa near Rio Rancho, New Mexico? https://www.castelion.com/project-ranger/

Snyder informed Castelion of the upcoming Thursday, October 22nd State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) meeting of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. https://www.dhsem.nm.gov/preparedness/hazardous-materials-program/serc/ and https://www.dhsem.nm.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/August-2026-SERC-Meeting-Minutes.pdf

She also reported that Castelion has attended the Sandoval County Local Emergency Planning Committee meetings, where members of the public can ask questions. But no notifications have been provided to the community members living near the weapons complex. https://www.sandovalcountynm.gov/departments/emergency-management/

These facts raise serious questions about agency transparency, hazardous materials oversight, and the public’s right to know. https://commongroundrising.org/castelions-project-ranger-solid-rocket-motor-plant/

 

Get all the details at nuclearactive.org

Typical bills climb by over $100 a month as data centers demand more energy

RICHMOND, VA — Dominion Energy’s newly filed 2026 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) update projects that the utility’s carbon pollution will more than double compared to last year’s plan while customer bills climb steadily for the next two decades. Under the IRP’s “preferred path” that the company submitted to Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC), a typical residential bill for 1,000 kilowatt-hours would rise from $180.31 to $283.65 a month – an increase of more than $100 – as Dominion pursues nearly 9,000 megawatts of new gas-fired generation and six small modular nuclear reactors to meet a demand forecast driven in large part by new data centers. The company estimates its preferred plan will cost $91.5 billion, costs that will be passed on to customers through their electric rates.

Dominion’s preferred plan ignores state requirements on at least three accounts. While the update increases planned solar and battery storage over last year’s plan, the battery targets fall well short of recent statutory requirements (SB 448 / HB 895, 2026). Dominion’s calculations do not appear to square with Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative requirements targeting zero tons of greenhouse gas emissions from large power plants by 2045. In addition, Dominion’s preferred path would keep its fossil fuel plants running past 2045, the date by which the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) requires them to close. Dominion now forecasts demand rising 2.8% a year, up from 2.5% in last year’s update, and expects its preferred path to emit 47 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2046 – up from 21.8 million in last year’s plan.

Victoria Higgins, Virginia Director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), issued the following statement:

“With every new energy plan, Dominion gives up a little more on the planet and jacks up rates a little higher to serve data centers. Now, as Dominion awaits a decision on NextEra’s proposed acquisition, it plans to double its pollution while the typical family’s bill climbs by more than $100 a month. 

Communities will see this plan for what it really is: a blueprint for billions of dollars in new gas plants to chase Big Tech’s appetite for power. The SCC must hold Dominion to the clean energy laws on the books, and Virginia leaders must rein in data center growth before it drains all of our natural resources, further punishes the poor and destroys the middle class.”

In July 2025, the SCC directed Dominion to model at least one scenario fully aligned with the VCEA, including the scheduled retirement of its fossil fuel plants. Dominion’s update sets that path aside in favor of a preferred plan that keeps gas burning. The preferred plan’s gas buildout does not even count the roughly 5 Gigawatts of gas plants Dominion has already proposed in Chesterfield and Cumberland counties. The update arrives as Dominion and NextEra seek state approval for a proposed merger that would create the largest regulated utility monopoly in the world.

#   #   #

Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

The post Dominion’s Updated Energy Plan Doubles Pollution as it Prepares to Merge with NextEra appeared first on Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

The Northwest needs a SMART standard for data centers Meredith Connolly Fri, 10/16/2026 - 10:27 am

“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.

Are you ready to vote on November 4th? Find Voting & Election information here.

Image Source: Metro Philadelphia

Metro Philadelphia: New SEPTA Regional Rail schedules start Sunday – Current SEPTA Student – Sunday, October 18 will see the start of new Regional Rail schedules for SEPTA. Daily parking rates will also be reduced at all SEPTA parking garages, from $4 to $2 per day, through December 31, 2026. The new schedules can be viewed here.

Image Source: Transit Forward Philadelphia

Transit Forward Philadelphia: Week Without Driving 2026 – This year’s annual Week Without Driving challenged Pennsylvanians that normally drive to go car-free as much as possible from September 30 through October 6. More than one-third of people living in the United States are nondrivers. Advocacy groups with Transit Forward Philadelphia challenged Philly to go beyond one week. They advocated for affordable and reliable transit, expanded student fare cards, accessible transit stops, and building out the Transit Access Fund to expand SEPTA for all Philadelphians.

Image Source: Philly Voice

Philly Voice: City Council makes bike lane around City Hall permanent a year after it was installed by PennDOT – The existing bike lane surrounding City Hall was codified into a bill by City Council approval this week. The bike lane was installed by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation last year but was considered a pilot program. The bill, introduced by Councilmember Jeffrey Young Jr., keeps the lane in place. Cycling advocates submitted a 1,200-signature petition and sent over 400 emails in favor of the lane. The bill awaits the mayor’s signature, but was passed unanimously by City Council, meaning it can become law with or without the signature.

Other Stories

BillyPenn: Less honk, more handlebar: Philly Bike Ride rolls back into town

Philadelphia Today: Why Philadelphia Ranked as America’s Worst City to Drive in 2026

PennDOT: Seven Day, 24-Hour Work Begins October 19 on the Dolby Street Safety Improvement Project

CBS Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Regional Transit announces plans to permanently close the Wabash Tunnel

6ABC: AC Expressway widening project aims to improve safety and reduce congestion

A federal judge ruled that two lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s rollbacks of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah can proceed.

District Judge Tanya Chutkan reopened cases originally filed in 2017 by environmental groups and Tribal entities to oppose President Donald Trump’s downsizing of both national monuments during his first term. Judge Chutkan put the case on hold after President Joe Biden restored the boundaries of both monuments in 2021. In July, President Trump once again slashed the size of both monuments by nearly 3 million acres. In September, a group of environmental organizations and Tribal entities filed a request to reopen the cases, asking the judge to vacate the monument rollbacks and declare them unconstitutional. Chutkan’s order requires the Trump administration to provide 48 hours notice to the plaintiffs before any ground-disturbing activities commence.

“We are reaching out to every Tribe and non-profit to stand together to provide protection of the Earth at Bears Ears,” said Philip Rentz, the board chairman of Utah Diné Bikéyah in a statement when the request was filed. “In 2017 and most recently, President Trump acted illegally in significantly reducing National Monument protections and tried not only to divide Tribes, but to dismantle collaborative efforts that honored trust and treaty responsibilities.”

Quick hits Judge unfreezes lawsuits filed over downsizing of Utah monuments

Arizona Republic | Bloomberg Law

A uranium mine near Grand Canyon National Park raises fears of arsenic contamination in the water

Science Line

Lawsuit challenges Trump administration’s military zone on New Mexico border

Santa Fe New Mexican

Report: How the Trump administration is trading away public lands for corporate benefit

Center for American Progress

Trump funding cuts halt repairs, critical work at national parks

Arizona Republic | Nevada Current | Desert Sun

AI data center water use grows in drought-stricken areas

Bloomberg

Trump’s logging push is reshaping who controls America’s forests

E&E News

Opinion: Access to public lands should unite all Americans

TIME

Quote of the day

At a time of growing loneliness, division, and stress, being outside can improve physical and mental well-being, strengthen community, and reconnect us with one another. For millions of Americans, public lands make that possible.”

—Mary Beth Laughton, president and CEO of REI Co-op, TIME

Picture This

@nmdeptwildlife

Sandhill crane migration season is just around the corner! New Mexico is a very important wintering area for sandhill cranes. The valleys of New Mexico provide a mild winter climate, shallow water roosting sites, and good food resources for wintering cranes. The need to conserve these important areas of crane habitat cannot be overstated to ensure that cranes persist in NM into the future, which is why we oversee the Bernardo Wildlife Management Area.

A sandhill crane can live 20 years or more, which is very long-lived for a bird. Sandhill crane migration lengths are variable, but some birds will migrate very long distances to breed, with some birds that winter in New Mexico breeding as far away as Siberia. Sandhill cranes represent one of the oldest surviving bird lineages on Earth—their presence today connects modern ecosystems (including humans!) directly to deep ecological past. They were here long before any human knew how to use fire.

Featured image: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Source: BLM Flickr

The post Judge unfreezes lawsuits filed over downsizing of Utah monuments appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.