Matt Yglesias is a good blogger. We enjoy checking out his work on Think Progress and his latest criticism of the Obama administration is right on. "One of the most frustrating things about the Obama administration is the tendency of its leaders and communicators to project a message that's absolutely demoralizing to progressive political activists," he wrote. Here’s why:

The Interior Department today announced plans to open 1.8 million acres of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve to new oil and gas drilling.

The Bureau of Land Management is selling leases on 190 tracts in the reserve. Bidding will close Aug. 11.

Nearly 1 million acres in and around the reserve's Teshekpuk Lake were put off-limits to drilling to protect important habitat for migratory birds and the local caribou herd.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the lease sale balances a commitment to energy production with environmental protection.

Uh-huh. The Department Of The Interior has been fighting for this since 2006 in an attempt to steal 500,000 acres of land in and around the lake. The U.S. District Court in Alaska even struck down DOI’s findings, saying their environmental analysis had violated federal environmental laws. Across the country, citizens sent over 300,000 comments to the Secretary of Interior and the CEO of ConocoPhillips. Four years later and we've miraculously found a lease for drilling that "balances a commitment to energy production with environmental protection." Hoo-ray! It's like DOI has the memory of a goldfish.

So who does Ken Salazar work for?

DTE hopes Rolling Stone calls him for an interview. Soon

Cluster-you know what.  Last week at the Post Falls City Council meeting councilmembers voted unanimously to file a lawsuit against the federal government over a phosphorus-reduction plan for the Spokane River.  The issue at hand is Idaho being upset that discharge standards were set by the Washington Department of Ecology at a level that Idaho thinks "would strangle growth in North Idaho, unfairly penalizing Idaho dischargers while giving more generous limits to Washington municipalities."  As the Kootenai Environmental Alliance points out, "what happens ultimately is anyone’s guess, but with Post Falls heading to the courtroom, what likely happens next is that everyone else will head to the courtroom too."  Read more of this post HERE.

Moving beyond "climategate".  Deniers and alarmists be damned - "climategate" is behind us, it's now time to actually do something about global warming.  According to an editorial in The New York Times, last week, "a panel in Britain concluded that scientists whose e-mail had been hacked late last year had not, as critics alleged, distorted scientific evidence to prove that global warming was occurring and that human beings were primarily responsible."  Conspiracy debunked - let the real work begin.  Read more HERE.

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