ProjectEnvironment, Politics The State of the Interior As the Department of the Interior embraces industry interests, US public lands are left vulnerable to private sector exploitation under the Trump administration. A man holds a sign as he waits at the Kanab Airport to protest U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke on May 10, 2017 in Kanab, Utah. Zinke has been in the state of Utah since Sunday talking with state and local officials and touring the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, to help determine their future status under the Trump Administration. Image: George Frey/Getty Images Investigations InvestigationEnvironment, Politics The Man Determined to Deliver Trump’s Alaskan Oil Promise A political appointee at the Department of Interior has played a key, and sometimes controversial, role in opening a pristine wildlife refuge to drilling. Adam FedermanPolitico MagazineAugust 8, 2020 InvestigationBusiness, Environment, Politics ‘This Is the Wild West Out Here’ How Washington is bending over backward for mining companies in Nevada at the expense of environmental rules. Adam FedermanPolitico MagazineFebruary 9, 2020 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics How Science Got Trampled in the Rush to Drill in the Arctic The Trump administration pried open an environmental ‘jewel’ for oil and gas exploration. But in its push to get started, it has ignored and distorted the work of its own experts. Adam FedermanPolitico MagazineJuly 26, 2019 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics Government Scientists Warned Oil Exploration Would Threaten Polar Bears Despite legal concerns, the Trump administration is pushing ahead. Adam FedermanMother JonesDecember 11, 2018 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics The Interior Sidelines Environmental Justice In early September, DOI quietly rescinded two memos that provided guidance on protecting vulnerable communities and Native American sacred sites. Adam FedermanThe NationNovember 13, 2018 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics How Far Will The Interior Go to Loosen Offshore Drilling Rules? Proposals jeopardize safety precautions put in place after the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Adam FedermanThe NationSeptember 11, 2018 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics DOI Scientist Resigned After Demand for Sensitive Oil Data Another controversy hits the Interior Department. Adam FedermanMother JonesFebruary 21, 2018 InvestigationBusiness, Environment, Politics Giving Big Oil the Keys to Public Lands Trump's Bureau of Land Management is rapidly opening previously off-limits areas to oil and gas drilling. Adam FedermanThe NationDecember 8, 2017 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics The Plot to Loot America’s Wilderness A little-known bureaucrat named James Cason is reshaping the Department of the Interior. Adam FedermanThe NationNovember 16, 2017 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics Interior Department Scrubs Climate Change From Strategic Plan Leaked draft of a DOI five-year plan reveals the priority of “energy dominance.” Adam FedermanThe NationOctober 25, 2017 InvestigationBusiness, Environment, Politics Despite Trump’s Efforts, the Coal Industry is Scaling Back Even as he offers them new opportunities, executives are quietly saying ‘no thanks.’ Adam FedermanThe Washington PostOctober 13, 2017 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics Purging Climate Scientists for Telling the Truth Dozens of senior officials have been reassigned at the Department of the Interior. Adam FedermanThe NationAugust 2, 2017 InvestigationEnvironment, Politics The War on Coal States President Trump may be a friend to producers of coal — but his administration is already working to shortchange the communities that produce it. Adam FedermanSlate MagazineJune 15, 2017 News & Analysis NewsEnvironment, Politics A Former Oil-Industry Lobbyist Is Now In Charge of America’s Public Lands Questions about conflicts of interest and transparency shadow newly confirmed Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Adam FedermanThe NationApril 12, 2019 NewsEnvironment, Politics Lawmakers Want to Know Why the Trump Administration Demanded Sensitive Oil Data A top government scientist resigned in protest. Adam FedermanMarch 1, 2018
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics The Man Determined to Deliver Trump’s Alaskan Oil Promise A political appointee at the Department of Interior has played a key, and sometimes controversial, role in opening a pristine wildlife refuge to drilling. Adam FedermanPolitico MagazineAugust 8, 2020
InvestigationBusiness, Environment, Politics ‘This Is the Wild West Out Here’ How Washington is bending over backward for mining companies in Nevada at the expense of environmental rules. Adam FedermanPolitico MagazineFebruary 9, 2020
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics How Science Got Trampled in the Rush to Drill in the Arctic The Trump administration pried open an environmental ‘jewel’ for oil and gas exploration. But in its push to get started, it has ignored and distorted the work of its own experts. Adam FedermanPolitico MagazineJuly 26, 2019
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics Government Scientists Warned Oil Exploration Would Threaten Polar Bears Despite legal concerns, the Trump administration is pushing ahead. Adam FedermanMother JonesDecember 11, 2018
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics The Interior Sidelines Environmental Justice In early September, DOI quietly rescinded two memos that provided guidance on protecting vulnerable communities and Native American sacred sites. Adam FedermanThe NationNovember 13, 2018
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics How Far Will The Interior Go to Loosen Offshore Drilling Rules? Proposals jeopardize safety precautions put in place after the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Adam FedermanThe NationSeptember 11, 2018
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics DOI Scientist Resigned After Demand for Sensitive Oil Data Another controversy hits the Interior Department. Adam FedermanMother JonesFebruary 21, 2018
InvestigationBusiness, Environment, Politics Giving Big Oil the Keys to Public Lands Trump's Bureau of Land Management is rapidly opening previously off-limits areas to oil and gas drilling. Adam FedermanThe NationDecember 8, 2017
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics The Plot to Loot America’s Wilderness A little-known bureaucrat named James Cason is reshaping the Department of the Interior. Adam FedermanThe NationNovember 16, 2017
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics Interior Department Scrubs Climate Change From Strategic Plan Leaked draft of a DOI five-year plan reveals the priority of “energy dominance.” Adam FedermanThe NationOctober 25, 2017
InvestigationBusiness, Environment, Politics Despite Trump’s Efforts, the Coal Industry is Scaling Back Even as he offers them new opportunities, executives are quietly saying ‘no thanks.’ Adam FedermanThe Washington PostOctober 13, 2017
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics Purging Climate Scientists for Telling the Truth Dozens of senior officials have been reassigned at the Department of the Interior. Adam FedermanThe NationAugust 2, 2017
InvestigationEnvironment, Politics The War on Coal States President Trump may be a friend to producers of coal — but his administration is already working to shortchange the communities that produce it. Adam FedermanSlate MagazineJune 15, 2017
NewsEnvironment, Politics A Former Oil-Industry Lobbyist Is Now In Charge of America’s Public Lands Questions about conflicts of interest and transparency shadow newly confirmed Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Adam FedermanThe NationApril 12, 2019
NewsEnvironment, Politics Lawmakers Want to Know Why the Trump Administration Demanded Sensitive Oil Data A top government scientist resigned in protest. Adam FedermanMarch 1, 2018