Overnight Energy & Environment — Top land management staffers returning to DC

Welcome to Tuesday’s Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. Subscribe here: digital-stage.thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

Today we’re looking at new details on who’s coming back to the district after the BLM moved west, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm saying “no” to an oil export ban and Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) latest push to sanction the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk. Write to us with tips: rfrazin@digital-stage.thehill.com and zbudryk@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @RachelFrazin and @BudrykZack.

Let’s jump in.

Most BLM leaders to return to Washington 

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will move many of its leadership positions back to Washington, D.C., after a controversial Trump-era move to send them to Grand Junction, Colo. 

An email sent out by BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning that was obtained by The Hill states that the agency will “consolidate” most of its directors in Washington. 

The deets: Specifically, the email states that the director and deputy director of operations have already returned to the district, joining the deputy director for policy and programs. It said that eight additional leaders including “most assistant directors and deputy assistant directors” will also return to D.C.

The message also said that 30 vacant headquarters senior positions will be based in Washington.

A spokesperson for the Interior Department, which oversees the BLM, confirmed the accuracy of the email.

But what about the Colorado office? Thirty-six jobs will stay in Grand Junction and are expected to be complimented by more yet-to-be posted jobs that were referenced in Stone-Manning’s email. 

The email states that two positions, the national conservation lands and community partnerships assistant director and deputy assistant director, will “anchor” the Colorado office. 

Stone-Manning wrote that the office will “anticipate” posting additional positions that “reflect that office’s leadership role in BLM’s outdoor recreation, conservation, clean energy, and scientific missions, as well as outreach and Tribal consultation.”

The backstory: The Trump administration announced in 2019 that BLM would move its headquarters from Washington to Grand Junction. 

It argued that the move, which was completed last year, would put officials closer to the lands that they managed, but critics saw it as an attempt to drive out career officials.  

The Biden administration announced in September that it would restore the D.C. headquarters, but also maintain the Colorado office as its “Western headquarters.”

Read more about the department’s plans here.

Granholm ‘not considering’ oil export ban 

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Tuesday that the Biden administration will not ban crude oil exports, despite a push from some Democrats. 

Speaking before the National Petroleum Council — an advisory board made up of oil industry figures — Granholm said, “We are not considering reinstating the ban on exports.”

This follows a similar comment from National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, who told reporters last week that banning oil exports is “not an issue that we’re currently focused on.”

But Deese also said that President Biden has made clear that “all options should be on the table to try to address challenges in the market and bring relief to American consumers.”

The comments come after the idea to ban crude oil exports was endorsed by several Democrats last month as a tool the administration could use to bring down the price of gasoline.

Read more about what Granholm had to say here.

 

Cruz floats Nord Stream 2 sanctions vote deal 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on Tuesday that he has made an offer to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to drop his hold on some of President Biden’s ambassador nominees in exchange for a vote on Nord Stream 2 pipeline sanctions.

Cruz, speaking to reporters, said he had made an offer to Schumer and had spoken with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.

“I have an offer on the table,” Cruz said. “It’s in Schumer’s hands.”

“I spoke this morning to Secretary Blinken who would very much like to see the tranche of ambassadors that I’ve offered to clear go through,” he said.

The backstory: Most of Biden’s State Department nominees have been stuck at a standstill amid a blockade lead by Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).

Cruz has vowed to slow-walk the picks until the Biden administration imposes congressionally mandated sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was built to allow Russia to deliver natural gas to Germany.

Read more about the latest offer here.

 

CAN’T TAKE THE HEAT, GET OUT OF THE ARCTIC?

Arctic sea ice saw its lowest recorded level on record in April as rapid warming continues to destabilize the region, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Arctic Report Card.

The research found that multiyear sea ice hit its second-lowest level since it was first recorded in 1985 by late summer of this year, while in April volume was the lowest it has been since recording started in 2010.

The period between October 2020 and September 2021 was the seventh-warmest for land temperatures dating back to 1900, when record-keeping began, according to the report card. Meanwhile, surface air temperatures from October to December 2020 also reached record highs for both the Pan-Arctic and Asian-Arctic regions.

Researchers additionally found that increased atmospheric carbon is likely acidifying the Arctic Ocean at a faster rate than the ocean as a whole.

The impacts: While the warming is indicative of worldwide changes, it’s also a direct threat to the residents of the area. Research included in the report card found that warming has been a threat multiplier for Alaska Natives; in addition to facing reduced salmon harvests, likely as a result of climate factors, Natives have been kept from harvesting grounds by social distancing requirements, and supply chain crunches have limited their options for buying food in retail settings.

Read more about the latest findings here.

 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Russia Blocks U.N. Move to Treat Climate as Security Threat, The New York Times reports
• Environmental challenge to DACA won’t get high court review, Reuters reports
• Controversial North Carolina wood pellet plant spurs debate over environmental injustice, WFAE reports
• Factory workers threatened with firing if they left before tornado, employees say, NBC News reports

 

ICYMI

Toyota investing $35B in EVs, CEO says

UN weather agency certifies record high Arctic temperature

And finally, something offbeat and off-beat: The end of the zebra saga.

 

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s energy & environment page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.