With Democrats in power, an emboldened environmental movement confronts them [Los Angeles Times :: BC-ENV-ENVIRONMENTALISTS-TENSIONS:LA] WASHINGTON — When Joe Biden in December was mulling whom to name as his Interior secretary, entrusted with hundreds of millions of acres of public land, a network of nascent environmental groups eager for clout made a move that defied the usual Washington playbook. They launched a campaign to publicly shame the person believed to be at the top of the president-elect’s shortlist — retiring New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall, a longtime Biden friend and former aide whose father held the post in John F. Kennedy’s Cabinet.