The Perfect Pick: Secretary of the Interior

Transitioning to greener energy is inevitable and necessary.  The national, high school debate topic so long ago when I was debating was based on US energy independence. You know, “drill, baby, drill.”

Despite strides made in green energy, the old guard will not give up the ghost of fossil fuels. TX AG, Ken Paxton, has even sued to reopen Keystone XL.

What does this have to do with the Department of the Interior? Plenty. Everything is connected.

Of all of President Biden’s wonderful cabinet picks , Deb Haaland was a most welcome choice. She is a woman with a deep understanding of the agencies she will oversee, from land management to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. (Will they rename the bureau? It seems behind the times.
I was surprised to learn that there are tribes who rely on gas and oil revenue, although this is a drop in the proverbial bucket to what the big guys in gas and oil industry are making.  

Revenue going to tribes in the US (or to all citizens in Norway) doesn’t fix the many problems caused by fossil fuels.  From destroying land and polluting water, to the increase of extreme weather events due to climate change from its use, it’s a costly firm of energy.  The gas and oil industry costs money and lives in the long run.

Though it may be possible to extract revenue from wind and solar, I don’t know that the trade would be dollar-for-dollar.

With our new, Secretary of the Interior, I have hope that the lands of America will become even more beautiful because someone is truly watching over them with her head and her heart.

Here are some small ways that wind and solar have come into play, and, they can be replicated.

https://reasonstobecheerful.world/the-island-where-everyone-owns-the-wind/
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/next-generation-solar-farm-pollinators-crops-grazing/

For his pick of Deb Haaland, Joe Biden deserves a hearty “atta boy.”  She is the perfect pick for this enormous and important job. 

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82 thoughts on “The Perfect Pick: Secretary of the Interior”

  2. nice piece and picture in the guardian the other day:

    The swearing-in at the Eisenhower building in Washington.

    Deb Haaland made sure she was making history in style.

    From head to toe, Biden’s new interior secretary dressed in pieces that honored her Native American heritage when she was sworn in on Thursday: a sky-blue ribbon skirt adorned with embroidered images of butterflies, stars and corn along with moccasin boots, dragonfly earrings and a turquoise bead necklace.

     

    Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, is the first Native American cabinet secretary in US history. As interior secretary, Haaland is charged with overseeing the department that manages the country’s national parks, wildlife refuges and natural resources like gas, oil and water. The interior department also works to uphold the US government’s treaty obligations with Native American tribes, of which there are 574 sovereign tribal nations in the US.

    […]

    At her swearing-in ceremony, Haaland was joined by her family, including daughter Somah Haaland, who held the Bible Haaland took the oath on.

    Kamala Harris administered the oath, remarking at the end of the ceremony: “History is being made yet again.”

  3. speaking of things save-our-planet-before we-destroy-it and us, here’s john last night:

    Plastic is in everything, from the clothes we wear to the water we drink. John Oliver explains how plastics are harming the planet, why recycling isn’t the solution you think it is, and why fixing the problem will be up to not just consumers, but corporations and policymakers.

  5. The strangeness that is in the parts of the country where alternative universes live can be breathtaking.  The first to me is many of the inhabitants think I am one of them.  Being undercover allows me into their different thinking world.  Even though many are barely surviving, if yo life on a boat that is barely afloat and your main source of protein is fish (in season or not) and you have no day job, they are convinced the billionaires tax cut helped them.  They use “democrats” as a slur word.  “Those democrats keep calling the police on me.”  And, for the strangest thing in their alternative world is they use “karen” as a slur on liberal women, not racist republican women.

  7. I’m not sure that I’ve ever actually been excited about a cabinet pick until now.  I’m not sure what I’m expecting from her since there’s only so much she can do, but at least I know (and am happy about) where she stands.  

    Sorry for the typos.  I lost the post trying to embed links into type and had to rebuild it from scratch. I think the original made more sense.  (Craig embedded them for me.) I have no idea how the last two links actually attached, but I touched a button somewhere. The phone is a convenient but inefficient way to post.

  10. something to look forward to or dread this coming saturday?

    notes from peter funt found at cagle post:

    NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” returns with a new episode on March 27 and it remains a mystery whether the show will have someone portray President Biden. A bigger question: Will SNL dare give Biden the same treatment it gave Gerald Ford?

    President Ford, a star athlete in college, slipped on the steps of Air Force One in June 1975. When SNL had its debut four months later, Chevy Chase played Ford as a klutz, falling down in sketch after sketch – a depiction that helped make Chase a big star. It branded Ford and helped dash his chances against Jimmy Carter the following year.

    Last Friday, President Biden had the misfortune to slip at least twice on the steps of Air Force One. He wasn’t injured, but his image might have been hurt. Right-wing commentators already claim he’s too old and frail for the job. They’ll be aching for Biden to get a Ford-style portrayal on SNL.

    So far, the NBC series has stayed clear of Biden. He is mentioned briefly on Weekend Update, but there has yet to be a sketch with a Biden character in 2021.

    […]

    I placed a call to Alan Zweibel, who was one of the original writers at SNL and worked on the Ford parodies. “We were at an age where the Republicans were the bad guys,” he told me. He recalls that after Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace, “Ford comes along and he’s the guy who not only pardoned Nixon, but kept falling down a lot. So, you know, it just seemed like the natural thing to do.”

    […]

    So, what will be Joe Biden’s fate? Will SNL turn him into a Ford-style bumbler who keeps losing his footing? Or will SNL steer clear of damaging Biden’s image at a time when the nation is already so divided on politics?

    Chevy Chase is now 77, one year younger than Joe Biden. Maybe SNL will invite him to stumble back into the presidential role.

  11. not just spring breakers to worry about in florida

    Toilet-invading iguanas among invasive species now banned in Florida | Florida | The Guardian

    An animal once prized as an exotic curiosity is now widely decried as a pest. The iguanas hang out on roofs, dig under houses and to the horror of home owners can crawl into sewers only to emerge, thrashing around, in the toilet bowl.

     

    some spring breakers also known to be found with heads in toilet bowls on occasion

  12. I am not a math genius, that aside, looking at the calendar I am sure that President Biden has been in office a couple days more than sixty in office.  Considering that little thing I am real tired of the idiots out there, read that media types including the big idiot on MtP, saying the Biden presidency has failed and did not do anything in its first one hundred days.  (sixty is not equal or greater than one hundred)  Biden has done more for the U.S. and the world in sixty days than the former thing did in four years.

  13. Surely AG Garland approved this interview. If not I’d think this guy in some trouble for talking so much about an ongoing case he led until Friday. He is still a fed prosecutor.

    “Evidence the gov’t obtained in the investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol most likely meets the bar necessary to charge some of the suspects with sedition, said Michael R. Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who had been leading the DOJ inquiry.” 

    https://t.co/ZHBJ9CLUIB

  14. BiD…  nice article.
    I too am hopeful that Deb Haaland will bring fresh eyes to the Department of the Interior.
    Our transitioning over to renewables will most likely be complicated…  I have faith in her abilities.
     
    BBronc…  Chuck has already been demoted to a crappier time slot on MSNBC….  deservedly so.

  16. the hill:

    The Interior Department has reversed a Trump administration decision determining that a portion of the Missouri River was under the jurisdiction of the state of North Dakota rather than a Native American reservation.

    Trump officials had concluded a part of the river that flows through the Berthold Indian Reservation was within the state’s jurisdiction rather than that of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, the reservation’s three affiliated tribes.

    “The previous administration’s M-Opinion overturned decades of existing precedent holding that the Missouri riverbed belonged to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) Nation,” an Interior spokesperson said in a statement. “Today’s action will allow us to review the matter and ensure the Interior Department is upholding its trust and treaty obligations in accordance with the law.” 

    […]

    “The MHA Nation’s rights to the Missouri River riverbed minerals have been reaffirmed through a history of longstanding, well-settled, and still applicable legal precedents, and there should be no question as to the validity of the Nation’s claims,” National Council of American Indians president Fawn Sharp said in a statement last July. “We cannot reiterate strongly enough that consultation with tribal nations and upholding treaty obligations is not optional. It is mandatory.”

    The opinion comes days after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland became the first Native American Cabinet secretary. Native groups have expressed hope that Haaland’s confirmation will mean they have an ally in the department on issues affecting tribes.

    [continues]

  18. i am unfamiliar with whatever strange internet magic my loved-one harnessed to get through on the walgreens site, but i am now scheduled.  It’s a two-hour drive to the Walgreens to which i am to report, but beggars can’t be choosers.🤷‍♂️

    i haven’t traveled that far in over a year, i am going to feel like Bilbo🧙🏻‍♂️

  19. bink, good news. 

    hope it’s J&J so you only have to make one trip.

    plus you won’t have to suffer 2nd shot side effects.

  20. i highly doubt it’s J&J, don’t know of a single person that has gotten that (saw a headline the J&J rollout is delayed, didnae have time to read it)

  21. patd

    Just got around to watching the Oliver piece on plastics.  I’ve been preaching the no plastic sermon for years and it doesn’t take long before you start noticing that it is almost impossible to avoid the crap.  As with most things destroying the environment, government and corporations are actively trying to force you to use the material that adds too their profits.

    Even if you want to become a complete Luddite in the interest of preserving the health and welfare of future generations, there are still way to few companies that assist in the goal.  I found one  (Clean Cult)  for cleaning products whose containers are all glass and packaging for shipment is paper.  We need to get some of the big boys like Amazon to get all those plastic pillows out of their shipping.  

  22. Contrary to news reports of a sturge at the border, I must point out that I have not set foot off the island.

  23. BiD good post!
    Corey, if you are out there, They may run this promotion again up your way. 

    WALLED LAKE, Mich. – The Greenhouse of Walled Lake is teaming up with UBaked Cannabis Company to offer free pre-rolled joints to people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine and can prove it.
    The “pot for shots” COVID-19 vaccination promotion runs from Jan. 22 through Feb. 28. You need to bring in written proof that you’ve received a COVID-19 vaccine and you’ll be given a free pre-rolled joint with no purchase necessary.

    For the rest of us, Krispy Kreme is giving away a free donut with proof you have received your covid shot. Now if they would just pass out free insulin to go with it.
     
    Jack

  24. Blue …………. 
    A timely post , and well done. 
    As for plastics , when you clean your lint trap on your dryer.  There is plastic in that lint.   This dryer plastic is being recovered in the Arctic. 
    God Speed Sec.  Haaland , you’re gonna need it. 

  25. This image is from the folks at Australia’s Green Peace .
     After the worst fire season they ever saw , which came to a close just 13 months ago. 
    Now we see this –
    100 year floods. 
    Thousands evacuated in Australia as ‘life-threatening’ floods inundate New South Wales
     
    https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/22/australia/australia-nsw-floods-evacuations-intl-hnk/index.html
     
    As a system nears a tipping point it tends to swing wildly between the extremes. 

  26. No nation has been held hostage to the fossil fuel industry quite like the Aussies.  Rupert has  had them by the media throat  for decades.  Now their coal exports to China are sitting off China’s coast .  Dozens of ships. 
    And the Great Barrier Reef’s death spiral races forward.  

  27. Two hour drive to get the shot?  Long but worth it IMHO. Crank the tunes and enjoy the ride.  
    No struge sighting at the border?  Hmmm, I wonder who that guy was…
     
    OK, Joe’s getting a $3T infrastructure, et al. legislative package together.  That shouldn’t be a problem, right?  WaPo says some Dem moderates are concerned because they want to return to bipartisan “crafting” of legislation.  They know what is going to be in the legislation, so why aren’t they negotiating legislation that will get them there?  Just sayin’
     

  29. bipartisan
    We’re all sitting in the same lifeboat , but about a third of the ships compliment have been drinking sea water .
    One does not  bargain  with lunatics,  or those drinking sea water. 
     

  30. Old man, I gotta admit aside from wine and lamb, (and coal and Al) I didn’t know shit about Australian exports until i googled it.  Damn, China buys 43% of what they export? No leverage there.  Want to get a glimpse of the future (And a defense of Obama’s energy program)?  From worldstopexprts.com.

    The leading decliner among Australia’s top 10 export categories was mineral fuels including oil which fell -26.4%, weighed down by lower revenues for coal, petroleum gases and oil.

    Pretty sure Obama’s war on coal didn’t cause Australia’s coal exports to decline.  

  32. Earlier our ground here was covered in soft pea sized hail in a rain storm .  The street was white. 
    Now,  a wall of dust is bearing down  on us with 60 m.p.h. winds.  Gusts to 77 m.p.h. 

  33. Pogo –
    The same thing  is happening off Long Beach.  Different reasons, but dozens of ships at anchor waiting to unload.  
     

  36. A coworker got a blood clot in his leg after his first, Modena vaccination.  Of course, he smokes like chimney, so… (Maybe don’t smoke and take a low-dose aspirin every day?)

    Anyway, now those who didn’t want to get vaccinated are using it as evidence that they shouldn’t get vaccinated.  Also a hot topic with that crowd today:  Will  there be a “Confederate” air show this year?    I wasn’t aware that Jeff Davis had an Air Force.  

    OM’s storm is  headed to DFW.  I hate it when ice falls from the sky.  (Greenland has ice.) It is a massive storm; it goes all the way up toward xrep.

    Bink – Good for you.  I will probably be the last person on the trail invited to the dance.

  37. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/22/capitol-siege-jan-6-north-texas-arrested/

    “North Texas remains a focus of the investigation into the Capitol insurrection after 19 local residents have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack…”

    “We are going to f—king go in here. Life or death, it doesn’t matter. Here we go,” Ryan said, adding a plug for her business. “Y’all know who to hire for your Realtor. Jenna Ryan for your Realtor.”

    “…a group of conservatives who call themselves the “DFW Deplorables.”

    “In 2017, Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere was challenged by an opponent who promised to “keep Plano suburban,” which LaRosiliere, who is Black, said was a “dog whistle” for residents wanting to keep the town white and affluent.”

  38. Thanks- the “strange magic” was searching in rural, conservative areas where vaccine-acceptance is relatively low

  39. Drove through Plano onest on the way from Dallas to Sherman. Might have stopped for gas. Really can’t recall. Plano didn’t wow me. I wouldn’t be surprised that a northern suburb of Dallas might have a racist stripe. 

  40. jamie, as long as plastic (derived from petroleum) is around forever & ever and as long as there’s still some machines that run only on petroleum which is being depleted, why hasn’t some entrepreneur come up with a process to convert plastic back into a form of petrol?  that ever-increasing amount of plastic waste (the stuff that can’t be reused/recycled to more plastic which in turn is reused/recycled into back into and so on) could be returned to its origin and there must be enough of the wasted stuff out there to make it it’s weights worth in usable fuel.

    ahhh such is the stuff that dreams are made of…   

  43. Can we please get something done on gun reform and mental health support?  I would like affirmative answers to those questions rather than a body count.  

  45. Former conservative Chief Justice of Supreme Court Warren Burger: The 2nd Amendment “has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime”

  47. If, and I sayIF, the off year election follows the historical pattern, and if, and I say IF, Repugnants get control of 2 houses of Congress, and if, and I say IF, a Repugnant wins the WH in 2024, without the filibuster where will we be?  (And do not mistake my meaning – I’m just raising the issue). 

  48. I was 15. I got on a train downtown, wound up in San Fran……went to Chinatown.    Got into a big boat and rode to LA. where we got onto  a bus and rode it over to Disneyland and back to the boat and thence to Tahiti……7 days at sea.   Landed in Papeete across from Quinn’s where I bought my little god on the docks.

  59. Growing up with white music (a la “Bob Seeger” et al.), James Brown and such blew my mind when i found it

  61. I bought a double decker god on Fiji but it was made with seashells stuck in for eyes and made of shit wood and couldn’t hang, long story short…..

  65. oh, i have 30 board feet of Honduran Mahogany, which is now banned from exportation, wonder who will get it🤔

    (rap these boards with your knuckles and they sing)

  75. I now embark on the greatest stupid kitchen make of all yime……or time. 
    music was how to travel
    wood was how to be in one place
    —Sturgeone

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