If enacted, the conservative plan could ‘decimate’ public lands and protected habitats.

Writing in Colorado Newsline, David Lien assesses the potential impacts of Project 2025 on public lands. The plan, a conservative proposal to reform government at the highest levels that could affect everything from executive power to housing policy, proposes several changes to the Department of the Interior that, Lien writes, “would decimate public lands habitat” in Colorado and other states.
Proposed changes in the Interior section, which was written by former Bureau of Land Management (BLM) chief under Trump William Perry Pendley, include: restoring mining claims and oil and gas leases in Colorado’s Thompson Divide, aiming to reduce national monument designations, repealing the Antiquities Act, and giving more regulatory power to states.
According to Lien, “Every Colorado Parks and Wildlife district wildlife manager I talk to emphasizes that the proliferation of motorized and mechanized trails (legal and illegal) is negatively impacting elk herds.” In an earlier commentary, Lien writes, “During his three-plus years in the White House, Donald Trump has orchestrated the largest reduction of protected public lands in U.S. history, according to a study published in Science, an academic journal … The Trump administration has worked to weaken safeguards for nearly 35 million acres — nearly 1,000 times more than the administration has protected.”
FULL STORY: Project 2025 puts public lands in peril

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

Updating LA’s Tree Rules Could Bring More Shade to Underserved Neighborhoods
A new USC study finds that relaxing Los Angeles’ outdated tree planting guidelines could significantly expand urban tree canopy and reduce shade disparities in lower-income neighborhoods, though infrastructure investments are also needed.

California's Canal Solar Projects Aim to Conserve Resources and Expand Clean Energy
California’s Project Nexus has begun generating electricity from solar panels installed over irrigation canals, with researchers and state agencies exploring statewide expansion to conserve water and boost clean energy production.

HHS Staff Cuts Gut Energy Assistance Program
The full staff of a federal program that distributes heating and cooling assistance for low-income families was laid off, jeopardizing the program’s operations.
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