Biden admin makes historic progress in honor of Earth Day 2024

The Biden administration has set a tremendous new benchmark this month leading up to Earth Day, taking a series of actions that have made major waves in public lands management, building toward a future where communities and nature are protected while public lands support a renewable energy revolution.

Here’s a quick round-up of the highlights:

• The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced a 20-year mineral withdrawal in Colorado’s Thompson Divide, protecting the quintessential stretch of backcountry from drilling and mining.
• The BLM released its Renewable Energy Rule, which will help support the responsible development of wind and solar energy projects on public lands.
• The BLM also released its Oil and Gas Rule that will set stricter standards for drilling on public lands and force companies to pay more.
• In a long overdue move, the BLM released the final Public Lands Rule that finally affirms conservation, recreation and cultural protection are equal management priorities to resource extraction. That means no more VIP treatment for oil and gas on the agency’s 245 million-acre estate.
• The BLM took a series of actions to protect lands in Alaska, blocking the destructive Ambler road project and rolling out stronger protections for 13 million acres of the Western Arctic. Separately, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit appeal by the developers of the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay.
• The Department of the Interior expanded four National Wildlife Refuges to protect more critical wildlife habitat: Roanoke River (NC), Aransas (TX), Big Boggy (TX) and Muleshoe (TX).
• President Biden is taking a series of actions to formalize and launch the gestating American Climate Corps, a new initiative inspired by FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps that will create jobs for young people fighting the climate crisis.

If you still aren’t impressed, just know that this is only a brief, incomplete summary of the actions that have been or will be taken this month. There’s no question these actions were spurred by the voices of fierce advocates of all stripes rallying for change. This month’s events are an important reminder that we can affect meaningful change. The work doesn’t end here—and even bigger victories lie ahead.