Even After Russian Invasion, Biden Slow Walks Lease Sales

Between August 2021 and February 2022, President Biden’s Bureau of Land Management’s approval of drilling permits was low, averaging about 200 per month. After Russia invaded Ukraine, however, the approvals picked up with 473 approved in March and 357 approved in April. Those approvals were still much less than the 600+ approved in April and […]

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Key Vote: BLM Planning 2.0 CRA

The Senate is set to consider H.J. Res. 44, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s “Planning 2.0” rule. This regulation would redefine the “multiple use” concept for federal lands laid out in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA). It would also diminish state and […]

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BLM Considers Raising Royalty Rates

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced in April that it is considering raising the royalty rate for oil and natural gas drilled on Federal lands—currently at 12.5 percent of drilling operations’ production value. The Center for American Progress (CAP) recommended that BLM increase the royalty rate for oil and gas drilled on public lands by at […]

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Congress Fights Back Against BLM Fracking Rule

Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) recently introduced a bipartisan bill, H.R. 2728, the Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act. The bill seeks to preserves state authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing on public lands—a right that has recently come under assault from the federal government. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in May […]

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