Internal Matters

 Deb Haaland has been confirmed as Interior Secretary. She is the first Native American to hold a cabinet position, or maybe the first Native American woman, and the first Native American in charge of the department that oversees Indian Affairs. I read that there are some tribes with oil and natural gas reserves under their control who are hoping Secretary Haaland will make it easier for them to extract those resources. Others expect that she will be hostile to the entire oil and gas industries. Something to watch.

I lost money betting on her confirmation. I didn't pay enough attention to time. The contract said by 1 March, and she wasn't confirmed in time for me to win. Maybe I will spend more time on PredictIt, and try to recoup my losses on other issue. Probably not. I won substantial money betting on Joe Biden to win, first the electoral college, then Georgia. I won more on those than I lost of the contract I lost money on. But I have realized that I have to pay attention to win. If there had been a contract just on whether Deb Haaland would be confirmed or not, I would have bought into that, and won.

The Department of Interior has a lot to deal with. The Federal Government owns a lot of land. Nevada, for example, is mostly not private, but public land, where no one lives. There are people who say all public lands, except National Parks, should be sold off. I disagree. I think we should preserve wilderness as much as possible. I think if grazing of livestock on public lands is allowed, it should be paid for and managed to minimize environmental degradation. My father used to talk about the Sage Brush Rebellion, when ranchers were demanding control of public land used for grazing, until they learned how much it costs to maintain the land, which the government was doing for the ranchers. Those grazing on public lands were essentially being subsidized, and getting a huge bonus compared to those who were grazing their cattle on private land. The government fees were well below market rates, and didn't even cover basic costs. But those Republican ranchers will still fight tooth and nail to keep those benefits, while fighting just as hard for any appearance of benefits to anyone else.

I would like to see increased regulations to protect wilderness areas and other public lands. I would like to see policies put in place to decrease our greenhouse gas emissions and reduce use of fossil fuels. I want clean air and clean water, and some kind of plan to maintain supplies of clean water for the future, as I have also read that some aquifers, especially in the West, are losing water, and have finite reserves. Water is a resource in limited supply, and one we must have. Maybe we should start by closing down cities in deserts. Las Vegas and Reno don't need to exist. There may be others.

Maybe I should write to Secretary Haaland, and propose regulations limiting cities to a size that the local water supplies can support. Put us in harmony with the land. I wonder if that idea would resonate with her heritage.