Provisions Subject to a 60-Vote Byrd Rule Point of Order Energy and Natural Resources NEPA compliance. These provisions deem offshore oil and gas projects as automatically compliant with the National Environmental Policy Act, nullifying these projects' environmental review processes. (Subsection 102(b)(4) and Subsection 102(b)(5)) Offshore oil and gas leasing. This subsection requires leases to be issued to successful bidders within 90 days after the lease sale. (Subsection 102(b)(6)) Ambler Road. This section requires the Secretary of the Interior to permit construction of Ambler Road, a controversial mining road in Alaska. (Section 201) Mandatory public land sales. This section mandates the unprecedented sale of millions of acres of public land, including from both Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands. (Section 301)

Renewable energy fees. This subsection removes the Secretary of the Interior's discretion to reduce fees for solar and wind projects on Bureau of Land Management land. (Subsection 303(e)) Geothermal leasing and royalties. These sections require the Secretary of the Interior to hold yearly geothermal lease sales and purport to change how geothermal royalties are calculated. (Section 305 and Section 306) Natural gas exports and imports. This section creates a pay-to-play regime for natural gas exports, allowing natural gas exporters to pay a fee to have their project be deemed "in the public interest," which is a requirement for approval. (Section 401)

HUGE: Senate Parliamentarian says that Mike Lee's public land sell-off violates the Byrd rule, requires 60 votes in the Senate. A bunch of other terrible anti-environment provisions do too.

This isn't over, but this is a huge win.

www.budget.senate.gov/ranking-memb...

DeLauro uses her opening statement to tear Russ Vought a new one

Fire suppression, as policy, manages for the most severe fire possible; the only large fires that burn are those too severe to stop.

Reverting to that policy is dangerous and dumb. It will come at the cost of tax dollars, firefighter lives, and further damage to national forests.

No seriously, ai is sucking up huge amounts of energy to answer all of our inane questions. I know because I've been doing it all the time, but if you add -ai it won't do it. #extinctionrebellion

There is one place, however, where Musk, with the help of his minions, achieved his goals. He did indeed shred U.S.A.I.D. Though a rump operation is now operating inside the State Department, the administration says that it has terminated more than 80 percent of U.S.A.I.D. grants. Brooke Nichols, an associate professor of global health at Boston University, has estimated that these cuts have already resulted in about 300,000 deaths, most of them of children, and will most likely lead to significantly more by the end of the year. That is what Musk’s foray into politics accomplished.

Musk should be asked about this in every interview he does now and forever. To ignore it is a dereliction of duty.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...

Use -ai to stop waste and fraud says this flicker nestling

Today the Supreme Court cleared the way for the federal government to transfer thousands of acres of national forestland including a Native American sacred site, to Resolution Copper a mining company owned by Rio Tinto and BHP. The land holds deep spiritual significance for the Western Apache tribe.

Colossal scientist now admits they haven’t really made dire wolves Despite a huge media fanfare in which Colossal Biosciences claimed to have resurrected the extinct dire wolf, the company's chief scientist now concedes that the animals are merely modified grey wolve...

What a colossal waste of money and public attention -- outright lies that did significant harm to actual conservation efforts.

Colossal scientist now admits they haven’t really made dire wolves www.newscientist.com/article/2481...

Collateral Damage: The Environmental Cost of Cuba’s Terrorism Designation • The Revelator As U.S. restrictions tighten, Cuba’s efforts to protect its ecosystems are faltering — with rising deforestation, strained conservation programs, and growing pressure on protected areas.

Collateral Damage: The Environmental Cost of Cuba’s Terrorism Designation • @therevelator.org therevelator.org/cuba-trump/

Woolly mice and "dire wolves" are a distraction from attacks on endangered species, experts caution "De-extinction" takes center stage as environmentalists express dismay over erosion of the Endangered Species Act

www.salon.com/2025/05/15/w... #endangeredspeciesact

How redefining just one word could strip the Endangered Species Act’s ability to protect vital habitat The public has until May 19 to weigh in on a Trump administration plan that would leave many endangered species at much greater risk.

How redefining just one word could strip the Endangered Species Act’s ability to protect vital habitat theconversation.com/how-redefini... #EndangeredSpecies

Colossal Bioscience’s attempt to de-extinct the dire wolf is a dangerously deceptive publicity stunt Colossal Biosciences’ claim to have brought back the dire wolf is misleading, and may derail important conservation efforts.

theconversation.com/colossal-bio... #extinction

The Trump administration has all but stopped enforcing environmental laws The EPA is the nation's top environmental cop. In the last few months, the federal agency has significantly scaled back pollution enforcement.

The Trump administration has all but stopped enforcing environmental laws.

grist.org/accountabili...

#EPA #Environment #Pollution #Climate #Laws #Regulation

It's real!

Trump administration moves to narrow protections for endangered species Environmentalists warn new proposal from US wildlife agencies could lead to habitat destruction and extinction

More on the stupidity now dominating our government here in the U.S.: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

New world disorder: Get ready for dirty toilets, closed facilities and fewer firefighters - Columbia Insight Federal layoffs have created chaos for Northwest public lands, and a cascade of damaging environmental consequences appears imminent

Just one slice of the impacts of stupid, shortsighted DOGE: columbiainsight.org/get-ready-fo...

Inside the Battle Over the ESA Since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, has it been a winning or losing proposition? It depends on who you ask.

The fight to save the ESA is on: mountainjournal.org/as-battle-ov...

One in five butterflies lost in the US since 2000, study finds A study in the United States found a dramatic 22% decline in butterfly populations between 2000 and 2020. Previous research has focused on a specific butterfly species or regions of the country. For t...

We need to take urgent action to safeguard butterflies and other insects. Every action we take to help pollinators also helps us because our fate is directly tied to their health.

61K views · 877 reactions | Former federal employees from various organizations who were affected by the Trump administration’s mass firings share with @11thhourmsnbc’s @stephruhle the significance of... Former federal employees from various organizations who were affected by the Trump administration’s mass firings share with @11thhourmsnbc’s @stephruhle the significance of the work they did and...

The only waste and fraud I'm seeing is DOGE. www.facebook.com/reel/1194925...

This animal is on the edge of extinction. Trump just fired the people trying to save it. Job cuts and frozen funding could inch one of the world’s rarest species even closer to extinction.

The black-footed ferret is one of the most endangered animals in North America.

The human wrecking ball has slashed funding & fired 1/4 of staff keeping the species alive - impacting the whole prairie ecosystem from pollinators to streams.
www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

By @benjij.bsky.social

No bueno

Yup, pretty much sums it up.

Due to President Trump’s hiring freeze, regional monitoring for northern spotted owls either won’t occur or will be greatly reduced.

This leaves conservation agencies without crucial information needed to prevent the imperiled owls from sliding into extinction. Details ➡️ biodiv.us/3QrHZdx

Society for Conservation Biology on one important aspect of the tragedy that is the Trump administration: conbio-northamericansection.informz.net/informzdatas...

A ‘recipe for extinction’: can the US’s envied nature protections survive Trump and his ‘God squad’? Fears grow for endangered species as the US president sets about dismantling basic laws to protect them to make way for oil and gas drilling

A profound level of cynicism: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Trump’s proposed EPA leadership stacked with lobbyists and attorneys Guardian review of new political appointees also finds president is largely reappointing officials from his first term

“As Trump’s head of the EPA water office, Jessica Kramer will push an extreme MAGA agenda to block any effort to curb dangerous water pollution from lead, PFAS and anything else industry leaders tell her to ignore,” said Hannah Connor, deputy director of environmental health at the Center.

Trump taps former Wyoming Game and Fish chief Nesvik to lead U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - WyoFile If confirmed, one-time game warden would helm an agency that has roughly 8,000 employees and oversees a wildlife refuge system that covers nearly 860 million acres.

Not great: Trump taps former Wyoming Game and Fish chief Nesvik to lead U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - WyoFile wyofile.com/trump-taps-f...

Yes they're beautiful and fascinating, but it's not ok to have these animals as pets, best not to repost.

The Curlew, the Cactus, and the Obliterated Whitefish: The Species We Lost in 2024 • The Revelator Scientists also declared several other extinctions, including the first documented plant extinction in New Hampshire.

We need to do more if we're not going to lose more species like the slender-billed curlew: therevelator.org/extinct-2024/