Pulse of the Land - 9/8/2025
A weekly brief for conservation and cleaner energy
Key Takeaways This Week
Congressional overreach backing extraction, blocking conservation
More federal coal leases
Solar is still growing, but faces obsticles
Government Spotlight
Roadless Rule Rollback Advances
USDA moved to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects 58.5 million acres of national forests. Public comment is now open. Submit your comment on the Roadless Rule rollback, click here. Why it matters: opens remote forests to roads/logging, with wildfire/watershed habitat stakes.
One Congressional Vote - Management Plans for Fifteen Million Acres & Decades of Science-Backed Management Gone
Congress is not a land manager! Last week, they used the Congressional Review Act to pass 3 joint resolutions, scraping years of public land management planning and bars replacement management plans. Why it matters: clears the way for Powder River Basin coal decisions and the Ambler Road while loosening drilling/grazing guardrails across millions of acres.
The State of Public Lands
More Federal Leasing On Deck
BLM’s Sept 10 oil-and-gas lease sale (MT/ND) offers 26 parcels / 8,355 acres; Eastern States sale follows Sept 23. Why it matters: more federal minerals into the pipeline despite price and permitting volatility.
BLM Public Lands Rule in the crosshairs.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) finished review of a draft rule to rescind the 2024 policy that put conservation on par with extraction in BLM decisions. Why it matters: would tilt BLM choices back toward development.
Clean Energy Projects in the News
Offshore Wind Hits a Federal Red Light, but Green Lights are Still Possible
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a stop-work order on the nearly finished Revolution Wind project (RI/CT). The developers and both states sued last week to overturn it. Why it matters: stalls power for ~350k homes, spooks investors/jobs.
A prior BOEM stop on Empire Wind (NY) was lifted in May after pushback; work resumed—showing these orders can reverse but create costly uncertainty.
Solar Update
Market Signal: Momentum is there, but headwinds (tariffs, permitting, tax rules) are biting.
Interior’s July directive requiring Secretary-level sign-off for all wind/solar on federal lands adds friction to new projects. Coal, oil, and gas do not require secretary level sign off. Shouldn’t we be pushing for fairness and open markets? Takeaway: expect slower timetables for BLM-sited solar unless that policy is reversed.Projects in the news:
Private land: Eland Solar+Storage (CA): is now fully online. the generation facility sits on private land in Kern County; only the short 230-kV generator tie line crosses BLM land to reach LADWP’s substation. Takeaway: flagship utility-scale builds are operating and shaping peak coverage.
Georgia Power’s five new solar PPAs (GA): approved for sites across Mitchell, Coffee, Wilkinson, Jefferson, and Laurens counties; third-party projects, no federal siting indicated.
What to Watch Next
Sept 10: MT/ND oil & gas lease sale; Falkirk coal lease sale (ND).
Mid-Sept: Court motions on Revolution Wind injunction expected; Roadless Rule comment window active.
Thank you for reading! I highlight threats to public lands and the energy industry’s impact. I believe clean energy is the future, and ALL energy projects should prioritize private land first to keep wild places wild. When eneregy extraction is needed on public lands all projects must restore the land after extraction. Public lands are unique and once lost, they’re gone forever.