February, 11 2020, 11:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Yetta Stein, Communications Associate
Western Values Project
yetta@westernvaluesproject.org
(406) 529-1682
With Subpoena Power Granted, Interior's Culture of Corruption Poised to Face Tough Questions
The BLM Move Remains Unexplained, Unjustified, and Recklessly Destructive
WASHINGTON
Today, with Interior Secretary Bernhardt's Department consistently embroiled in conflicts of interest and questionable ethical conduct, the House Natural Resources Committee (HNRC) granted Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) the power to subpoena Interior in order to force the agency to turn over critical documents.
"The Trump administration has time and again shown its true colors: corporations and special interests first, the American people second. But the culture of corruption at Interior has run particularly rampant under former mega-lobbyist Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and the anti-public land zealots he's hired," Jayson O'Neill, Deputy Director of Western Values Project said. "Congress has demanded answers about the reckless BLM move time and again only to be stonewalled. Now, Secretary Bernhardt's attempt to cover up the dismantling of this critical public lands bureau so it will better serve the Trump administration's special interest allies will be revealed."
With the ability to subpoena Interior, HNRC has previewed its intention to get to the bottom of the controversial Bureau of Land Management (BLM) move West. Below are seven questions that subpoenas could help answer.
- Did the agency conduct a formal cost-benefit analysis of moving the BLM Headquarters to Grand Junction and reassigning other personnel to state offices? The only known analysis of the move is a mere two pages long. The provided document fails to address a host of key factors including relocation costs per employee, inevitable increased travel costs, potential impacts on agency functionality, as well as any cheaper alternatives. The document ultimately "does little to back the agency's reasoning" for the move. The new headquarters has also already proved problematic for BLM law enforcement personnel and is expected to cause many others.
- What was the role of White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney in pushing for the BLM reorganization after saying it was a way to get career staff to quit? After Mick Mulvaney stated that relocating career employees would force them to quit, it was clear the BLM's brain-power would suffer. So far, the relocation is causing a "major brain drain", as career staff - whose expertise and integrity have previously stood in the way of Trump's giveaway to special interests - are choosing to resign from the bureau rather than relocating and uprooting their entire lives.
- What terms and incentives were BLM employees really offered to relocate, and are they still available to employees? How many BLM employees have actually committed to moving to Western state offices and where? Has the agency been successful at recruiting high-quality candidates to work at the new Grand Junction headquarters? After Interior employees who transferred were warned that they "should expect a drop in their overall pay," it's unclear why any BLM employee would choose to relocate. Interior initially approved bonus payments to employees willing to relocate. But employees may be transferred without receiving these bonuses.
BLM is expected to lose "the majority" of its DC-based employees, but so far, the agency has refused to release official information about the number of employees who are relocating, transferring to other DC-based bureaus, or leaving the agency. While Acting BLM Director Pendley claims that as many of two-thirds of employees have agreed to relocate, sources told E&E News that as many as 80% of DC staffers will not be relocating. Further, BLM has had trouble finding qualified candidates willing to move to Grand Junction, as well as to other state offices. So far the bureau has been unable to fill more than half of senior leadership positions located in the new Grand Junction headquarters.
- Were impacts on the diversity and inclusiveness of the BLM discussed before going forward with the move? The decision to relocate BLM will likely decrease diversity and likely open the agency to discrimination lawsuits. Meanwhile, Acting BLM Director Pendley touts a troubling history on civil rights, diversity, and inclusion.
- Why were some BLM staff from state offices temporarily reassigned to work at the new headquarters in Grand Junction? What was the cost of this temporary reassignment to taxpayers? BLM employees have been temporarily reassigned to the agency's new headquarters to "give the appearance" it is "occupied and busy." Temporary reassignments have been seen as "a waste of time at best and a waste of taxpayer resources at worst."
- Did Interior or BLM leadership communicate with representatives of the oil and gas corporations and special interest groups with which they now share a building before the lease was signed? After Interior signed a lease for the BLM's new office space, it quickly became clear that the agency would be co-located with several extractive corporations and special interests, including Chevron, Laramie Energy, and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. Given Interior's previous attempts at accomplishing the to-do lists of industry allies, the office location is suspect and deserves scrutiny.
- Who offered Colorado Senator Cory Gardner the platform to announce the BLM relocation and why? The first to announce the BLM's official relocation? Colorado Senator Cory Gardner. Gardner's announcement came as other members of Congress, notably members of House Natural Resources and House Appropriations, remained in the dark about the decision.
Sen. Gardner seems to be the loudest spokesperson for the move: when asked for details about the number of positions being relocated to each state, an Interior official even referred a reporter to Gardner's website.
Western Values Project brings accountability to the national conversation about Western public lands and national parks conservation - a space too often dominated by industry lobbyists and their allies in government.
LATEST NEWS
National Team Member Becomes at Least 265th Palestinian Footballer Killed by Israel in Gaza
Muhannad al-Lili's killing by Israeli airstrike came as the world mourned the death of Portugal and Liverpool star Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva in a car crash in Spain.
Jul 04, 2025
Muhannad Fadl al-Lili, captain of the Al-Maghazi Services Club and a member of Palestine's national football team, died Thursday from injuries suffered during an Israeli airstrike on his family home in the central Gaza Strip earlier this week, making him the latest of hundreds of Palestinian athletes killed since the start of Israel's genocidal onslaught.
Al-Maghazi Services Club announced al-Lili's death in a Facebook tribute offering condolences to "his family, relatives, friends, and colleagues" and asking "Allah to shower him with his mercy."
The Palestine Football Association (PFA) said that "on Monday, a drone fired a missile at Muhannad's room on the third floor of his house, which led to severe bleeding in the skull."
"During the war of extermination against our people, Muhannad tried to travel outside Gaza to catch up with his wife, who left the strip for Norway on a work mission before the outbreak of the war," the association added. "But he failed to do so, and was deprived of seeing his eldest son, who was born outside the Gaza Strip."
According to the PFA, al-Lili is at least the 265th Palestinian footballer and 585th athlete to be killed by Israeli forces since they launched their assault and siege on Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Sports journalist Leyla Hamed says 439 Palestinian footballers have been killed by Israel.
Overall, Israel's war—which is the subject of an International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case—has left more than 206,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, and around 2 million more forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened, according to Gaza officials.
The Palestine Chronicle contrasted the worldwide press coverage of the car crash deaths of Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva with the media's relative silence following al-Lili's killing.
"Jota's death was a tragedy that touched millions," the outlet wrote. "Yet the death of Muhannad al-Lili... was met with near-total silence from global sports media."
Last week, a group of legal experts including two United Nations special rapporteurs appealed to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the world football governing body, demanding that its Governance Audit and Compliance Committee take action against the Israel Football Association for violating FIFA rules by playing matches on occupied Palestinian territory.
In July 2024, the ICJ found that Israel's then-57-year occupation of Palestine—including Gaza—is an illegal form of apartheid that should be ended as soon as possible.
During their invasion and occupation of Gaza, Israeli forces have also used sporting facilities including Yarmouk Stadium for the detention of Palestinian men, women, and children—many of whom have reported torture and other abuse at the hands of their captors.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Highly Inspiring' Court Ruling Affirms Nations' Legal Duty to Combat Climate Emergency
"While the United States and some other major polluters have chosen to ignore climate science, the rest of the international community is advancing protections," said one observer.
Jul 04, 2025
In a landmark advisory opinion published Thursday, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights—of which the United States, the world's second-biggest carbon polluter, is not a member—affirmed the right to a stable climate and underscored nations' duty to act to protect it and address the worsening planetary emergency.
"States must refrain from any conduct that reverses, slows down, or truncates the outcome of measures necessary to protect human rights in the face of the impacts of climate change," a summary of the 234-page ruling states. "Any rollback of climate or environmental policies that affect human rights must be exceptional, duly justified based on objective criteria, and comply with standards of necessity and proportionality."
"The court also held that... states must take all necessary measures to reduce the risks arising, on the one hand, from the degradation of the global climate system and, on the other, from exposure and vulnerability to the effects of such degradation," the summary adds.
"States must refrain from any conduct that reverses, slows down, or truncates the outcome of measures necessary to protect human rights in the face of the impacts of climate change."
The case was brought before the Costa-Rica based IACtHR by Chile and Colombia, both of which "face the daily challenge of dealing with the consequences of the climate emergency, including the proliferation of droughts, floods, landslides, and fires, among others."
"These phenomena highlight the need to respond urgently and based on the principles of equity, justice, cooperation, and sustainability, with a human rights-based approach," the court asserted.
IACtHR President Judge Nancy Hernández López said following the ruling that "states must not only refrain from causing significant environmental damage but have the positive obligation to take measures to guarantee the protection, restoration, and regeneration of ecosystems."
"Causing massive and irreversible environmental harm...alters the conditions for a healthy life on Earth to such an extent that it creates consequences of existential proportions," she added. "Therefore, it demands universal and effective legal responses."
The advisory opinion builds on two landmark decisions last year. In April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Swiss government violated senior citizens' human rights by refusing to abide by scientists' warnings to rapidly phase out fossil fuel production.
The following month, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea found in an advisory opinion that greenhouse gas emissions are marine pollution under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and that signatories to the accord "have the specific obligation to adopt laws and regulations to prevent, reduce, and control" them.
The IACtHR advisory opinion is expected to boost climate and human rights lawsuits throughout the Americas, and to impact talks ahead of November's United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Belém, Brazil.
Climate defenders around the world hailed Thursday's advisory opinion, with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calling it "a landmark step forward for the region—and beyond."
"As the impact of climate change becomes ever more visible across the world, the court is clear: People have a right to a stable climate and a healthy environment," Türk added. "States have a bedrock obligation under international law not to take steps that cause irreversible climate and environmental damage, and they have a duty to act urgently to take the necessary measures to protect the lives and rights of everyone—both those alive now and the interests of future generations."
Amnesty International head of strategic litigation Mandi Mudarikwa said, "Today, the Inter-American Court affirmed and clarified the obligations of states to respect, ensure, prevent, and cooperate in order to realize human rights in the context of the climate crisis."
"Crucially, the court recognized the autonomous right to a healthy climate for both individuals and communities, linked to the right to a healthy environment," Mudarikwa added. "The court also underscored the obligation of states to protect cross-border climate-displaced persons, including through the issuance of humanitarian visas and protection from deportation."
Delta Merner, lead scientist at the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement that "this opinion sets an important precedent affirming that governments have a legal duty to regulate corporate conduct that drives climate harm."
"Though the United States is not a party to the treaty governing the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, this opinion should be a clarion call for transnational fossil fuel companies that have deceived the public for decades about the risks of their products," Merner added. "The era of accountability is here."
Markus Gehring, a fellow and director of studies in law at Hughes Hall at the University of Cambridge in England, called the advisory opinion "highly inspiring" and "seminal."
Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife, and oceans at Earthjustice, said that "the Inter-American Court's ruling makes clear that climate change is an overriding threat to human rights in the world."
"Governments must act to cut carbon emissions drastically," Caputo stressed. "While the United States and some other major polluters have chosen to ignore climate science, the rest of the international community is advancing protections for all from the realities of climate harm."
Climate litigation is increasing globally in the wake of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. In the Americas, Indigenous peoples, children, and green groups are among those who have been seeking climate justice via litigation.
However, in the United States, instead of acknowledging the climate emergency, President Donald Trump has declared an "energy emergency" while pursuing a "drill, baby, drill" policy of fossil fuel extraction and expansion.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Trump Admin Quietly Approves Massive Crude Oil Expansion Project
"This thinly analyzed decision threatens the lifeblood of the American Southwest," said one environmental attorney.
Jul 04, 2025
The Trump administration has quietly fast-tracked a massive oil expansion project that environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers warned could have a destructive impact on local communities and the climate.
As reported recently by the Oil and Gas Journal, the plan "involves expanding the Wildcat Loadout Facility, a key transfer point for moving Uinta basin crude oil to rail lines that transport it to refineries along the Gulf Coast."
The goal of the plan is to transfer an additional 70,000 barrels of oil per day from the Wildcat Loadout Facility, which is located in Utah, down to the Gulf Coast refineries via a route that runs along the Colorado River. Controversially, the Trump administration is also plowing ahead with the project by invoking emergency powers to address energy shortages despite the fact that the United States for the last couple of years has been producing record levels of domestic oil.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) issued a joint statement condemning the Trump administration's push to approve the project while rushing through environmental impact reviews.
"The Bureau of Land Management's decision to fast-track the Wildcat Loadout expansion—a project that would transport an additional 70,000 barrels of crude oil on train tracks along the Colorado River—using emergency procedures is profoundly flawed," the Colorado Democrats said. "These procedures give the agency just 14 days to complete an environmental review—with no opportunity for public input or administrative appeal—despite the project's clear risks to Colorado. There is no credible energy emergency to justify bypassing public involvement and environmental safeguards. The United States is currently producing more oil and gas than any country in the world."
On Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management announced the completion of its accelerated environmental review of the project, drawing condemnation from climate advocates.
Wendy Park, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, described the administration's rush to approve the project as "pure hubris," especially given its "refusal to hear community concerns about oil spill risks." She added that "this fast-tracked review breezed past vital protections for clean air, public safety and endangered species."
Landon Newell, staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, accused the Trump administration of manufacturing an energy emergency to justify plans that could have a dire impact on local habitats.
"This thinly analyzed decision threatens the lifeblood of the American Southwest by authorizing the transport of more than 1 billion gallons annually of additional oil on railcars traveling alongside the Colorado River," he said. "Any derailment and oil spill would have a devastating impact on the Colorado River and the communities and ecosystems that rely upon it."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular