How Congress and the Biden Administration Can Support Climate-Resilient Western Mountain Communities & Reverse the Damage Caused by the Trump Administration

VIEW THE FULL REPORT HERE 

& Letter to President-Elect Biden Here

The catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic has brought economic hardship to our Western mountain communities while the Trump administration has been blindly loyal to, and financially supportive of, the dying fossil fuel industry. 

As the public flocks outside to recreate, there are growing concerns about the increased burdens on our trails, public lands, and infrastructure. This is happening as the federal government has relentlessly pursued its “energy dominance” agenda to greatly increase antiquated fossil fuel development on public lands, weaken environmental regulations, and fast track or eliminate environmental reviews for proposed projects that increase harmful climate emissions and public health impacts. To bolster this harmful agenda, the beleaguered fossil fuel industry has received huge federal financial bailouts during COVID-19 with no return to the taxpayers. At the same time, Western mountain communities have been forced to do without meaningful federal relief while shouldering the burden of increased unemployment, added public lands infrastructure needs, and costly climate impacts. It’s estimated that state and local governments will suffer budget shortfalls of $450 billion to $650 billion due to the pandemic.

The Mountain Pact recommends that the Biden Administration and new congress: halt new oil and gas leases on public lands and add conditions to permits; not provide any royalty relief and lease suspension provisions for the oil and gas industry in the future; modernize the country’s antiquated public lands royalty system and ensure that those who profit from them provide a fair return to the taxpayers; and include conservation-friendly financial support for local governments which are being forced to make deep budget cuts because of COVID.