As Biden promises renewed climate change focus, will his policies help or hurt Idaho?

Idaho and its public lands have been out of the spotlight during the past four years of the Trump presidency, and, for the moment, that’s not expected to change.

President Donald Trump made achieving “energy dominance” one of his top policy priorities, which left Idaho out of some of his administration’s most controversial decisions. Expanded oil and gas leasing on public lands and opening places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling brought environmental opposition and national attention.

But Idaho’s small and moribund oil and gas industry was neither benefited by Trump nor will it be affected by the Democratic turnaround expected on that issue. What will change is climate policy, a recognition the United States and the world need to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 2050 or face catastrophic and irreversible effects like rising sea levels, melting glaciers, droughts, floods, and uncontrollable wildfires.

That could bring new standards for building and a further shift of energy use from fossil fuels to wind, solar and nuclear for electrical power. The Biden administration also has called for a transition from gasoline fueled vehicles, as well as farm and industry equipment, to electricity and other alternatives.

The Biden administration has proposed an ambitious $2 trillion plan to transform the economy to a zero greenhouse gas economy that would include thousands of charging stations for electric vehicles, a mandate for governments to purchase electric and hybrid vehicles and to capture methane for fuels from manure. It also includes investment in mass transit and rail transportation systems and even “carbon banks,” which would pay farmers for planting crops and changing farm methods to sequester carbon in the soil.

Climate change progress in Idaho

“We’re already making a lot of progress in Idaho toward building a 100% renewable energy goal with leadership from our utilities and cities,” said Lisa Young, chapter director of the Sierra Club of Idaho in Boise.

Idaho Power has pledged to get to 100% clean energy by 2045. The city of Boise has set a goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2035.

The more ambitious national programs may not be able to get through a Republican-controlled Senate, but there are a lot of benefits to attract bipartisan support, Young said.

Idaho’s Farm Bureau has no policy on climate change, but the American Farm Bureau Association said in its climate policy paper it can support “market-based incentives,” which are “preferable to government mandates.”

“The more resources the federal government can make available, the more everyone can benefit from this, especially Idaho farmers and ranchers,” Young said.

The Idaho Cattle Association’s executive director Cameron Mulroney worries about some of the more burdensome proposals first outlined in the so-called Green New Deal by progressive Democrats on cattlemen and ranchers.

“We’ve got to be laser-focused on administration initiatives that could be harmful to our industry,” Mulroney said.

Over the last 20 years, Idaho has developed a collaborative management tradition on public lands that could provide examples of how Idahoans can work together to combat climate change.

Mulroney, for instance, has built trust with environmental groups who have worked with ranchers and other grassroots groups to write policies to preserve sage grouse in the state.

Alan Harper, the timber manager for Idaho Timber Group, the largest purchaser of timber on public lands in the nation, is on the board of the Idaho Conservation League. After more than 40 years of bumping heads, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Native American tribes (including the Nez Perce and the Shoshone-Bannock tribes) have co-managed salmon and other resources.

Tribal clout on environmental issues

Native American voters played a key role in electing Biden in states like Arizona and Wisconsin. They have strong relations with Congress from both parties, said Jaime Pinkham, a Nez Perce tribal member who is executive director of the Columbia River Tribal Fish Commission.

But in the wake of increased recognition of systematic racism in American society, prompted by the police-killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests, tribes’ calls for environmental justice have been heard by Biden and his supporters. Tribal representatives make up a large part of the Biden transition team.

Restoring the size and the tribal role in managing the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, is one issue, Pinkham said. Restoring the teeth of bedrock environmental laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act are another tribal priority, he said.

“I feel optimistic with this new administration is taking a looking that the environmental regulations that have been whittled away over the last four years,” Pinkham said.

Northwest tribes also hope Snake River salmon are on Biden’s agenda. The region’s four governors announced a collaborative process to seek a solution to the salmon and dam issue in the region. Rick Johnson, former executive director of the Idaho Conservation League, said the time is right for a regional solution.

“The Pacific Northwest is at the apex of its power right now,” Johnson said. “That won’t last forever. This is the time to think bigger,” he said.

Who will be Interior chief?

Three Democrats from New Mexico are considered the most likely to be chosen by Biden to serve as U.S. Department of the Interior secretary. The Interior secretary is the nation’s top wildlife manager and landlord, overseeing more than 500 million acres of national parks, federal rangeland and wildlife refuges. That includes more than 16 million acres in Idaho, from the Owyhee Canyonlands to Yellowstone National Park.

The three are Rep. Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, who was the first native American elected to Congress in 2018, Sen. Tom Udall, a 22-year veteran of Capitol Hill whose father Stewart Udall was interior secretary in the 1960s and Sen. Martin Heinrich, an avid backcountry hunter and angler.

This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 4:00 AM with the headline "As Biden promises renewed climate change focus, will his policies help or hurt Idaho?."