"Interior Solicitor Nominee Faces Heavy Workload, Serious Scrutiny"
"Legal challenges abound for Daniel Jorjani, formally nominated yesterday to fill the long-vacant position of Interior Department solicitor."
"Legal challenges abound for Daniel Jorjani, formally nominated yesterday to fill the long-vacant position of Interior Department solicitor."
"The Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General is reviewing allegations that acting secretary David Bernhardt may have violated his ethics pledge by weighing in on issues affecting a former client, the office confirmed Tuesday."
Does the military use ecological restoration as a means to “green” over the complex relationship between nature and culture, undermining the impacts of history and warfare? Our latest BookShelf review of the new volume, “Bombs Away: Militarization, Conservation, and Ecological Restoration,” explores one author’s argument that it does.
"President Trump’s choice to lead the Interior Department, David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist who has been accused of conflicts of interest, faced questioning Thursday from senators who must decide whether he is the right person to oversee some 500 million acres of public land and vast coastal waters."
The Society of Environmental Journalists is backing right-to-know lawsuits brought by journalism groups, and a collaborative press freedom tracker gets new funding. Meanwhile, at the Interior Department, one watchdog group angles for environmental impact statements on ANWR drilling, while others track possible conflicts of interest by the acting secretary. That and more in the latest WatchDog roundup.
"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler is reportedly recusing himself from agency reviews of a proposed mine whose developer his former law firm represented."
"The White House has decided on a new chief for the agency overseeing the Trump administration's deregulatory agenda. Paul Ray has been named acting head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a senior administration official confirmed, though there has been no public announcement."
"The EPA’s yearslong, tenuous effort to ease air pollution limits on trucks with rebuilt engines can be traced back to a day early in Scott Pruitt’s tenure as administrator."
"The federal government censored, withheld or said it couldn’t find records sought by citizens, journalists and others more often last year than at any point in the past decade, according to an Associated Press analysis of new data."
"President Donald Trump says in his budget that he’s asking for the highest amount ever for certain wildfire prevention programs. His proposal actually contains less money for wildfire prevention efforts than the current federal spending plan."