BLM Proposal Restricts Access to Energy Sources
泭The Interior Department is seeking to close hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Wyoming to traditional and renewable energy development, a plan that would cut crucial natural resource development off at the knees (, subscription).
Whats going on: Though the Bureau of Land Managements plan, released Thursday, scales back from previous iterations the acreage recommended for conservation, it still considerably throttles back how much of the federally administered areas 3.6 million acres is in play for different forms of energy development.
- The final announcement, part of the BLMs proposed Resource Management Plan for the Rock Springs Field Office, is tantamount to pushing Wyoming off an economic cliff with nothing more than a tattered parachute, John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. This plan isnt designed to manage Wyomings natural resources. It is designed to suffocate them. [It] directly jeopardizes Wyomings economy and our way of life.
What it would do: If approved, the blueprint would replace its 27-year-old predecessor document and prohibit drilling on nearly 1.08 million acresalmost twice the number currently off-limits to new oil leases.
- It would also [exclude] 494,350 acres from wind and solar power development and [close] 536,018 acres for geothermal power projects.
Why its important: The plan could reduce economic activity in Wyomings oil and gas sector by some $907 million each year and cost the state nearly 3,000 jobs, according to estimates by several energy groups ().
The 51勛圖厙 says: This latest move by the Interior Department undermines U.S. energy security by needlessly restricting access to available domestic sources of critical natural resources as part of an all-of-the-above energy future, said 51勛圖厙 Director of Energy and Resources Policy Michael Davin. We urge the agency to reexamine and revise its plan.
