Why Mike Lee’s plan to sell public lands got cut from the megalaw

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair Mike Lee pushed to sell parcels of federal land as part of the GOP’s megalaw. But his plan failed after facing strong opposition from Democrats, conservationists, and even some fellow Republicans. Garrett Downs from POLITICO’s E&E News breaks down why the proposal failed and how the fight over public lands may not be over yet in Congress. Plus, the Center for Biological Diversity on Tuesday expanded its lawsuit challenging a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assessment that concluded oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would not affect endangered wildlife. Garrett Downs covers Congress for POLITICO’s E&E News. Nirmal Mulaikal is the co-host and producer of POLITICO Energy.  Alex Keeney is a senior audio producer at POLITICO.  Gloria Gonzalez is the deputy energy editor for POLITICO.  Matt Daily is the energy editor for POLITICO. For more news on energy and the environment, subscribe to Power Switch, our free evening newsletter: https://www.politico.com/power-switch And for even deeper coverage and analysis, read our Morning Energy newsletter by subscribing to POLITICO Pro: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter-archive/morning-energy Music courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com Intro: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/LT5xCqqxIr/ Outro: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/baUrypCivw/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices