The debate over provisions in the recently approved House tax legislation (Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill) has numerous environmentally destructive provisions which I will get to in a moment.
However, one victory amid the unbridled promotion of resource development was the removal of an amendment that permitted the sale of 450,000 acres of public lands across Nevada and Utah.
The loss of public heritage resulting from any public land sales is an attack on democracy. Our public lands are among the most democratic institutions in America. All citizens are part-owners of these lands, which are part of our national inheritance.
About one-third of the United States’ acreage is federal land. This includes holdings in our National Forests, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Wildlife Refuges, and National Parks. These lands protect wildlife habitats, watersheds, biodiversity, historical places, and recreational opportunities. Some consider them a “cookie jar” for oil, gas, minerals, wood, and forage.
It’s important to point out that Montana’s Congressional representative, Ryan Zinke, was one of the staunchest opponents of selling public land.
Zinke said: “This was my San Juan Hill; I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands. Once the land is sold, we will never get it back. “God isn’t creating more land,”
I commend Zinke for standing up to the Trump administration, which sought to sell public lands to reduce the federal deficit and enable tax breaks for the wealthy.
Zinke was formerly Secretary of the Interior under the first Trump administration. Zinke recently formed, with Democratic Congressman Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, a bipartisan public lands caucus to keep public lands in public hands.
While I am certain that Zinke and I have different views on how public lands should be managed, we can’t have disagreements if we don’t own these lands. The provision that would have permitted the sale of public lands was the camel’s nose under the tent. If this amendment had been allowed to stand, it would have only been the first step in a process whereby our public heritage would have been sold to the highest bidders.
A second provision stripped from the legislation was an amendment that would have required additional Arctic drilling opportunities in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the approval of the Ambler mining road.
Although most people are aware of oil reserves along the North Slope of Alaska because of the development of Prudhoe Bay and the Alaska Pipeline, geologists have documented the presence of oil in the Arctic as early as the late 1800s. The 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Northwest Alaska was established in 1923 as the Naval Petroleum Reserve. The name was changed to the National Petroleum Reserve in 1976, with transfer to administration by the Bureau of Land Management.
The Biden administration set aside 13 million acres in the NPR while approving the development of the Willow Project. Alaska’s Congressional Delegation, Governor, and Legislature, as well as the Arctic Slope Regional Native Corporation, support the Willow Project.
In January 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order to expand oil drilling in Alaska, including the National Petroleum Reserve. Trump’s EO, among other things, also revokes protections for the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and other provisions enacted by previous administrations designed to protect wildlife, land, and water from oil development.
The House bill would require the BLM to conduct at least four oil and gas lease sales covering a minimum of 400,000 acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including reinstating some leases canceled by the Biden Administration. The legislation also directs the BLM to offer oil and gas leases for sale covering 4 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve.
The legislation also requires the BLM to issue all rights-of-way and permits necessary to develop oil leases. It automatically negates federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Worse, it exempts all new and reinstated Alaskan oil leases from judicial review.
The legislation also increases oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico. Mandating 30 lease sales of at least 80 million acres in size over the next 15 years.
All this additional oil and gas development will increase carbon emissions. Worse for the climate, the legislation attacks green energy programs by rolling back tax credits for solar and wind manufacturing and clean vehicles, among other measures.
All of these provisions will increase climate warming, which is driving large wildfires in the West and accelerating other climate disruptions such as increased hurricanes and tornadoes. Whether the Senate will maintain these egregious and environmentally destructive provisions remains to be seen. But the Trump administration is moving full speed ahead to destroy America’s land, waters, and air, not to mention the global climate.
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