Bold climate action has been delayed again, as negotiations to get the final Democratic holdouts on board with the Build Back Better reconciliation bill has been stretched out another month.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced today that the goal is to pass both the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the larger Build Back Better Act by the end of October.

Keep up the pressure to get a deal done. Contact your members of Congress to support the Build Back Better Act now!

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate confirmed a new head for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by a narrow 50-45 vote last week, installing a leader with extensive environmental experience after months of delay. Tracy Stone-Manning, an environmental advocate who works with the National Wildlife Federation, previously led the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

The position sat without a Senate-confirmed occupant for most of the Trump Administration and the beginning of the Biden Administration. Republican Senators had falsely attacked Stone-Manning as a supporter of “eco-terrorism,” based on misrepresentations of her role in reporting a 1989 tree-spiking threat while she was a graduate student.

The BLM is responsible for managing large amounts of federally owned land, most of it located in western states. Federal conservation-based land management has frequently clashed with the interests of ranching, logging, and mining companies intent on exploiting those resources.

Environmental advocates strongly supported Stone-Manning’s confirmation. National League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski called her “uniquely qualified to lead the BLM. She will bring important professional experience to this role after serving as the former director of Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality, a congressional staffer, and a senior policy advisor at the National Wildlife Federation. As an outdoorswoman and recreationist, she is also personally invested in the stewardship of our public lands and resources.”