As a longtime advocate for oil and gas drilling on public lands, Kathleen Sgamma has made her positions on fossil fuel regulations crystal clear.
But what will President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Land Management do when it comes to permitting renewable energy projects — including large solar fields, wind farms or geothermal systems — on federal land across the West?
Sgamma, who did not respond to a request for comment, has as president of the Denver-based oil and gas trade group Western Energy Alliance, frequently railed against energy and public lands management policies that she says restrict fossil fuels production. But she has not talked much publicly about green energy development.
It’s a key question, as the rollout of renewable energy has significantly ramped up since former President Barack Obama’s first term to now comprise dozens of utility-scale projects covering tens of thousands of acres that can power millions of homes. Rapidly expanding renewables across the Western landscape was a huge priority for former President Joe Biden, whose BLM left dozens of potential projects in the permitting pipeline.
