Interior Department

What the election means for the Interior Department

GOAT - A High Country News Blog (Free subscription) | 10/06/2008

A look at McCain's and Obama's likely picks for Secretary of the Interior.

BLM: Bad Land Management?

POGO Blog (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008

During the House Natural Resources hearing last month, Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney said that he wanted to investigate the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) next. It looks like the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is already a step ahead...

U.S. to limit oil development in polar bear habitat

ENN: Top Stories (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department will designate within two years protected areas of the Arctic that are considered critical habitat for polar bears and cannot be harmed by oil development as part of a legal settlement with environmental groups on Monday.

#15- AubreyJ’s Energy Update Report - October 07, 2008

AubreyJ.org (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008

AubreyJ’s Energy Update Report House GOP Leaders Ask Interior Department For Help On Offshore Drilling Tuesday , October 07, 2008 . File Photo by DoE With Drilling Bans Lifted, House GOP Leaders Ask Interior Department to Identify Potential Roadblocks to Fast Action Washington Must “Ensure Our Nation Can Reap the Benefits of New Domestic Energy Supplies as Quickly as Possible,” Leaders...

Groups Challenge Federal Decision to Waste Natural Gas, Ignore Global Warming at Colorado Coal Mine

Climate of Our Future (Free subscription) | 10/09/2008

... represented by the public interest law firm Earthjustice, challenges the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior for ignoring global warming impacts of enlarging the West Elk coal mine. The lawsuit aims to overturn the decision authorizing the mine to expand and vent 7 million cubic feet of methane daily. The Forest Service estimates that the amount of wasted methane would...

Deal to require U.S. to designate polar bear habitat

LA Times (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008

Under an agreement reached with 3 conservation groups that could restrict drilling off Alaska's coast, the Interior Department has until 2010 to designate critical habitat for the threatened species. The federal government will designate "critical habitat" for polar bears off Alaska's coast, a decision that could add restrictions to future offshore petroleum exploration or drilling.

Green group: BLM ignored laws in oil shale plans

Salt Lake Tribune (Free subscription) | 10/08/2008

... the public to weigh in on proposed oil shale leases. Utah BLM spokeswoman Megan Crandall says the Interior Department approved the land management plan amendments without a protest period because of a congressionally mandated timeframe in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. But, she adds, "the main issue here is that even though they approved it without the BLM protest period, it's important...

"Massive Impasse" at the Supreme Court

The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008

At issue in the case is whether the Interior Department has the authority to convert a parcel of land in Charlestown, Rhode Island into federal trust land for the benefit of the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. The Court granted review in February, and as the briefing developed over the summer, the Court was hit with three motions seeking divided argument time. Governor...

Protecting Critical Habitat For Polar Bears

Red Orbit (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008

Protecting Critical Habitat For Polar BearsPosted on: Tuesday, 7 October 2008, 06:30 CDT Three conservation groups have reached a settlement with federal officials on polar bear habitat. The agreement could add restrictions to future petroleum exploration or drilling off Alaska's coast; it sets deadlines for the Interior Department secretary to designate "critical habitat" for polar bears.The...

Feds must protect Alaskan habitat for polar bear

LA Times (Free subscription) | 10/06/2008

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA -- Three conservation groups have reached a partial settlement with the federal government on polar bear habitat, which could restrict petroleum drilling off Alaska's coast.The agreement filed Monday sets deadlines for the Interior Department secretary to designate "critical habitat" for polar bears.

• Deadlines set for designating polar bear habitat - Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• Deadlines set for designating polar bear habitat - Arizona Republic

Repairs shut in half of gulf rigs

PrairiePundit (Free subscription) | 10/04/2008

Houston Chronicle: Three weeks after Hurricane Ike came ashore, nearly half of the Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production remains shut in as pipelines and gas processing plants undergo repairs. The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, which regulates oil and gas activity in the Gulf, said Friday that 48.2 percent of oil production and 44.6 percent of natural gas output...

• Half of Gulf oil, gas shut in as systems undergo Ike repairs - Houston Chronicle

Vintage Photos: LBJ and Abe Fortas

Dr. X's Free Associations (Free subscription) | 10/04/2008

President Johnson with Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas. Their close friendship dated back to the '30s when Johnson was a young congressman and Fortas was a director in the Interior Department (Time). And from Wikipedia:Fortas was known in Washington circles to have a serious interest in psychiatry, still a controversial science at the time. In 1953 this expertise led to his appointment...

Fact Sheet: Taking Urgently Needed Action to Stabilize Our Markets

White House (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008

... the will of the American people by lifting the legislative ban on offshore energy exploration. The Interior Department is now exploring all options to bring these energy resources online as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Deadlines set for designating polar bear habitat

Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Free subscription) | 10/06/2008

Last updated October 6, 2008 2:33 p.m. PTDeadlines set for designating polar bear habitatBy DAN JOLINGANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Three conservation groups have reached a partial settlement with the federal government on polar bear habitat that could add restrictions to future petroleum exploration or drilling off Alaska's coast.The agreement filed Monday sets deadlines for the Interior Department...

NASA Partners With Forest Service On Air Tanker Safety Study

Space Ref (Free subscription) | 10/06/2008

EDWARDS, Calif. — NASA is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service on a project to examine the mission suitability of Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 fire retardant delivery aircraft. The aircraft under study are a DC-10 belonging to 10 Tanker Air Carrier LLC and a 747 owned by Evergreen International Aviation, Inc. The DC-10 tanker has already been successfully...