Haaland said she had an idea of what the Cabinet job might entail, having served in Congress and as a member of Joe Biden's platform committee when he was the Democratic presidential nominee. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico did not get a response from Haaland when asking when the first utility-scale offshore wind projects would be permitted Haaland defended the Biden administration's priorities, reiterating that her department was following the law and was on track to meet the administration's goal of installing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.īut even some Democratic senators who support more wind and solar energy development have questioned that timeline, saying some projects take years to be permitted and could be at risk. Critics say the Interior Department under her guidance had failed to conduct quarterly oil and gas lease sales as required under law, doubled the time it takes to get permits, and raised royalty rates charged to energy companies to discourage domestic production and advance the administration's climate goals. House committee opened an investigation into ties between Haaland and an Indigenous group from her home state of New Mexico that advocates for halting oil and gas production on public lands.īoth Democratic and Republican members of Congress also have grilled her about her agency's $19 billion budget request. Environmentalists slammed her department's approval of the massive Willow oil project in Alaska, while a Republican-led U.S. I really do want to find a balance."Ĭriticism of Haaland has mounted in recent weeks. "There is a process, so I am dedicated to that. It doesn't mean that that's the decision that's going to be made," said Haaland, 62, sitting in the shade of the towering cottonwood trees that line her backyard in Albuquerque. "I might feel one way about an issue personally. The hardest part? Balancing the interests of every single American, she said. RELATED STORY: LA County’s rainbow-colored lifeguard tower could lose its gay pride stripesĪn online petition on garnered 10,905 signatures.Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet member in the U.S., spoke to The Associated Press about her tenure leading the 70,000-employee agency that oversees subsurface minerals and millions of acres of public land.
But without the board’s approval, the tower would have been repainted to its original iconic blue because the permit for the installation was temporary. Venice Pride, a local nonprofit organization, and Dunn-Edwards Paints funded the project. The county’s Board of Supervisors voted in March to allow the original tower to be changed. It was meant to be part of a temporary, public art installation to help kick off an LGBTQ street festival. The tower, at the end of Brooks Avenue, was wrapped in the rainbow colors of the gay pride flag and dedicated in June. The section of Venice Beach where the lifeguard tower stands also was renamed after him. The board voted unanimously in support of Kuehl’s motion, which included dedicating the tower in memory of the late Bill Rosendahl, the first openly gay man elected to the Los Angeles City Council. “We received 11,000 signatures on a petition from that area, saying no no, we love it, we’d really like to keep it,” said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who introduced the motion to let the stripes stand. A Venice Beach lifeguard tower gets to keep its gay pride rainbow stripes after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to rescue it from getting repainted to the iconic blue.
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