Department of the Interior

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Obama Crew Flouts Own Drilling Ban
Obama Crew Flouts Own Drilling Ban
May 24, 2010 7:58 AM CDT

Obama Crew Flouts Own Drilling Ban

Waivers and permits still flowing, despite 'moratorium'

(Newser) - President Obama declared a moratorium on new oil drilling permits and environmental waivers two weeks ago, but his administration hasn't actually stopped giving out those permits and waivers. Since the May 14 declaration, it has granted at least seven drilling permits and five environmental waivers, the New York Times reports....

Agency Regulating Oil Rigs Has 'Spotty' Record

Interior Department's MMS doesn't inspire confidence

(Newser) - As the oil spill off Louisiana threatens to become one of the biggest in US history, Pro Publica would like to remind everyone that the federal agency charged with preventing such accidents "has had a spotty record over the past few years." That would be the Department of...

Obama to Open New Offshore Drilling

Atlantic drilling to open up first time in 20 years

(Newser) - President Obama plans to clear the way for drilling for oil and gas in new areas off the Atlantic coast, Alaska, and in the Gulf of Mexico, administration officials say. The proposal—to be unveiled today at a joint press conference with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar—keeps intact the moratorium...

Ex-Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall Dies at 90

Spearheaded '60s conservation movement, Wilderness Act

(Newser) - Stewart Udall, an elder in a famed political family who led the Interior Department as it vastly expanded public lands and helped win passage of major environmental laws, has died at the age of 90. During his 1961-1968 tenure as Interior secretary, Udall sowed the seeds of the modern environmental...

Indian Tribes Fight Obama-Backed Wind Farm

Battle continues to block 130 turbines off Martha's Vineyard

(Newser) - Massachusetts Indian tribes and environmentalists are continuing to battle a massive open-water wind farm just as the White House is signaling its support of the operation. Groups have been fighting the 25-acre 130-turbine planned "Cape Wind" installation off the coast of Martha's Vineyard for a decade. The Mashpee Wampanoag...

Feds Pitch Polar Bear Habitat

Critics complain move doesn't address main threats

(Newser) - The federal government has proposed designating 200,000 square miles of land, sea, and ice in northern Alaska as a critical habitat for polar bears. The move is "one step in the right direction to help this species stave off extinction," said an Interior Department official. He acknowledged,...

Feds to Sterilize Wild Mustangs

Thousands of wild horses to be shifted east to reduce strain on federal land

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of wild horses are to be sterilized and shifted from range land in the West to preserves in the Midwest and East under plans announced yesterday. The move will help manage the unsustainable numbers of horses and burros roaming free in Western states without having to resort...

GOP Blocks Obama Interior Dep't Pick
GOP Blocks Obama Interior Dep't Pick
May 13, 2009 11:31 AM CDT

GOP Blocks Obama Interior Dep't Pick

Rejection of top deputy marks first Republican KO of nominee

(Newser) - Republicans have blocked President Obama's pick for the No. 2 job at the Interior Department because of a flap over oil leases in Utah. In a 57-39 Senate vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes they would have needed to advance the nominee past GOP obstacles. It's the first...

US Won't Use Polar Bear to Battle Emissions

Law barring connection between carbon and habitat stands

(Newser) - The Obama administration will not use the plight of polar bears and their melting habitat to regulate greenhouse gases, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today that a Bush-era law barring government scientists from considering emissions as they attempt to save the endangered species will stand....

Wind Could Provide All US Power: Feds

Interior Dept. study sees offshore turbines generating energy

(Newser) - Offshore winds are a largely untapped resource that could potentially supply the US with even more electricity than it currently needs, according to a new Interior  Department report. The report says the area off the Atlantic coast could meet more than one-fourth of the national power demand, but the fact...

US Cancels Gas, Oil Leases Near Utah Parks

Administration moves to drilling in environmentally sensitive areas

(Newser) - The Obama administration is scrapping the sales of oil and gas leases on areas of federally protected land spanning 130,000 acres in Utah, Bloomberg reports. “Those are American iconic treasures we need to make sure are being protected,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today, adding that the...

Bush Policies Will Blow Through Nat'l Parks for Years

Putting commerce over conservation, White House stifled scientists' protests

(Newser) - Views of spacious skies and purple mountain majesties in US national parks may soon be interrupted by industrial roads and power lines, after years of Bush policies that pushed commerce over conservation, reports the Los Angeles Times. And unlike the many decisions that President Obama can quickly reverse, the changes...

Obama Adds Centrists Salazar, Vilsack to Cabinet

Salazar brings centrist cred to the team

(Newser) - Barack Obama added Ken Salazar and Tom Vilsack to his growing list of Cabinet appointments today, tapping the noted centrists as secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture respectively. “It is time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way,...

Colo. Sen Salazar Tapped as Interior Secretary

He's to play 'critical role' in moving US toward energy independence

(Newser) - President-elect Barack Obama has tapped Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to be his secretary of the interior, sources have told the Denver Post. Salazar is "all but certain" to be given the job this week, pending a background check, the newspaper reports. The first-term senator serves on the Senate Energy...

Bush Loosens Endangered Species Act
Bush Loosens
Endangered Species Act
Dec 12, 2008 9:59 AM CST

Bush Loosens Endangered Species Act

Another midnight ruling refuses protection to threatened animals

(Newser) - The White House incensed environmental groups yesterday by announcing sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Federal agencies will no longer have to consult with scientists before approving potentially harmful building or logging projects, and the government will not recognize the threat that global warming...

Guns OK'd in National Parks
 Guns OK'd in National Parks 
Dec 6, 2008 6:10 AM CST

Guns OK'd in National Parks

Campers will be allowed to pack heat in all but 3 of America's national parks

(Newser) - Visitors will be allowed to carry concealed and loaded weapons in all but three of America's 391 national parks under a new Bush administration policy, the Washington Times reports. The move, widely seen as a parting gift to the NRA from the president, reverses a 25-year-old Interior Department policy and...

Obama Plans to Erase Bush's Environmental Mark

EPA, Interior Dept. to be put to work fighting climate change

(Newser) - Whoever Barack Obama picks for the top posts at the EPA and the Interior Department will likely be put straight to work reversing the course those agencies have been on for eight years, the Washington Post reports. Obama has made it plain that he plans to undo many of the...

White House Scrambles to Find Operatives Permanent Jobs

Bush appointees 'burrow' in at agencies

(Newser) - The Bush administration is racing to put its political appointees into permanent civil service jobs before the clock runs out, reports the Washington Post. Federal job protection rules will make it tough for the new administration to dislodge the Bush operatives once they are in, meaning that they may keep...

Interior Dept. Scandal Rocks Drilling Debate

Lawmakers, voting next week, question ability to handle lease revenues

(Newser) - Revelations that Interior Department employees were literally in bed with Big Oil have given fresh ammunition to congressional Democrats seeking to limit offshore drilling, the AP reports. Lawmakers say serious question have been raised about the agency's integrity after investigations found that employees responsible for collecting oil and gas royalties...

Sex, Ethics Scandal Rocks Interior Dept. Oil Agency

Probes reveal sex, drugs, improper dealings in 'culture of ethical failure'

(Newser) - It's not quite the Interior Department Gone Wild, but it's not that far off, either. A dozen current and former employees of the departmental agency that deals with oil and gas royalties have been accused of having sex with reps of the energy industry, illegally accepting gifts, using cocaine in...

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