Report: Measuring the climate impact of Trump’s reckless leasing of public lands
Admin has overseen efforts to lease more public lands and waters than any in history
Since January 2017, the Trump administration has overseen efforts to lease more public lands and waters for fossil energy development than any administration in history. As part of a coordinated effort to advance an agenda of “energy dominance,” the Department of the Interior has overhauled policies and regulations governing leasing and development of these lands in a way that clearly places fossil energy production first. These policies have made it cheaper and easier for fossil energy corporations to gain and hold control of public lands. And they have hidden from public view the implications of these decisions for taxpayers and the planet.
As the world works to respond to the dire warning issued last fall by the global climate science body about the pace and scale of greenhouse gas emissions declines needed to avoid catastrophic warming, the American public cannot even find reliable information about the greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts of how their resources are being put to use.
This analysis seeks to pull the curtain back on this situation and shed light on the range of potential climate consequences of these leasing decisions.
