Feeble and old Joe Biden and his BLM (Bureau of Land Management) have adopted a new rule illegally that would block all drilling for gas and oil on public land. They would lease out the land to environmental groups that would effectively block out all new drilling on public lands. The land would be designated for conservation use. But, the problem is the law that governs public land does not recognize conservation use and is just another power grab by Marxists.
Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the BLM is required to lease public land it manages for various uses, including oil drilling, mining, grazing, and recreational use. The new rule would give environmental groups to use the land in ways not assigned to the BLM and thus would require congressional action. But, Biden and the Democrats know they cannot get that done and are trying to create a backdoor in order to block a legitimate u7se for the land that would hurt this country’s energy requirements.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told Fox News Digital that the BLM is attempting to “shove through another overarching, sweeping rule that’s not supported by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.”
Knudsen said:
“They’re trying to argue that conservation now somehow fits within the definition of uses under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and trying to do it by rule.”
“Just flagrantly in violation of federal law” and claimed the agency was “trying to do it on the sly” because the administration would be unsuccessful in getting a law passed through Congress.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL“Uses are all defined in FLPMA. Nowhere in there does the term conservation — conservation is basically non-use. So what this would amount to is locking up swaths of federal land for ‘conservation.’ That’s not an approved use under the law. If you want to do that, fine. Go to Congress, pass the bill, get the president to sign it. But they know they don’t have the juice to do that.”
Mining, farming, and oil organizations have also pushed back against the new proposal.
In a comment letter to the BLM, National Mining Association counsel Katie Mills wrote, “In our view, the proposal represents a fundamental shift in the way BLM currently manages federal lands under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act’s (FLPMA) multiple use mandate.”
In a separate letter to the BLM, American Exploration & Mining Association executive director Mark Compton accused the rule of being “illegal” and insisted it be “withdrawn immediately.”
“While the Proposed Rule pays lip service to [FLPMA] as amended, it fundamentally violates FLPMA in multiple ways, including illegally adding ‘conservation’ as a ‘use’ when Congress did not include it in FLPMA’s specific list of uses,” Compton stated.
The Nevada Farm Bureau Federation, the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association, and the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico also demanded that BLM withdraw the proposal.
