[MCN] Settlement to address oil and gas leasing climate impacts on 4 million acres of public lands, including in Montana

[Matthew Koehler]

For Release: Thursday, June 2, 2022



*Settlements: Biden administration will address oil and gas leasing climate
impacts on nearly 4 million acres of western U.S. public lands, reconsider
sales to oil and gas industry*

*Agreements resolve lawsuits over sale of nearly 4 million acres
across Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming*



*CONTACTS:*Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians, (303) 437-7663,
jnichols at wildearthguardians.org

Kyle Tisdel, Western Environmental Law Center, (575) 770-7501,
tisdel at westernlaw.org

Daniel Timmons, WildEarth Guardians, (505) 570-7014,
dtimmons at wildearthguardians.org

Barbara Gottlieb, Physicians for Social Responsibility, (301) 806-6826,
bgottlieb at psr.org



*WASHINGTON, D.C.*—In response to lawsuits filed by WildEarth Guardians,
Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Western Environmental Law
Center, the Biden administration will review and reconsider decisions to
sell nearly 4 million acres of public lands oil and gas leases as part of three
settlement agreements
<https://pdf.wildearthguardians.org/support_docs/2022-westwide-oil-and-gas-leasing-settlements.pdf>
upheld
by a federal judge this week.



“This is a big win for the climate and a real test to see if the Biden
administration is going to get serious about confronting the climate
impacts of selling public lands for fracking,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate
and Energy Program director for WildEarth Guardians. “With the oil and gas
industry bent on despoiling America’s public lands and fueling the climate
crisis, this is a critical opportunity for the Biden administration to
chart a new path toward clean energy and independence from fossil fuels.”



Between 2016 and 2021, the groups filed lawsuits challenging the sale of
millions of acres of public lands for fracking in Colorado, Montana, New
Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.



The suits targeted the failure of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s
Bureau of Land Management to address the climate implications of leasing
oil and gas, which conveys a right for companies to extract and pollute. In
an order late yesterday
<https://pdf.wildearthguardians.org/support_docs/2022-Dismiss-Order-Approving%20Settlements.pdf>,
Judge Rudolph Contreras dismissed the cases, upholding the settlements and
rejecting industry attempts to derail the agreements.



“This suite of cases has entirely recast the federal government’s
obligation to consider the cumulative climate impacts of oil and gas
leasing on public lands,” said Kyle Tisdel, senior attorney and Climate and
Energy Program director for the Western Environmental Law Center. “The
incompatibility of continued fossil fuel exploitation with a livable planet
is crystal clear. These settlements represent a fundamental opportunity for
the Biden administration to align federal action with this climate reality
and to keep its promise to present and future generations.”



Fossil fuels extracted from public lands and waters, including coal, oil,
and gas, are responsible for more than 900 million metric
<https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/docs/2021-11/2020%20BLM%20Specialist%20Report%20-%20GHG%20Emissions%20and%20Climate%20Trends%20%2811-3-21%29.pdf>
tons
of climate pollution, equal to the emissions from nearly 200 million
vehicles. As these fossil fuels are produced and consumed, the emissions
account for nearly a quarter of all greenhouse gases
<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fossil-fuel-extraction-on-public-lands-produces-one-quarter-of-u-s-emissions/>
released
in U.S.



Together, oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for
nearly 10% <https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2018/5131/sir20185131.pdf> of all
climate pollution released in the U.S.



“Our settlements give new hope that we can more effectively confront the
climate crisis and protect our health from oil and gas extraction,”
said Barbara
Gottlieb, director of Environment & Health at Physicians for Social
Responsibility. “Given how dangerously greenhouse gas levels are rising,
it’s critical that the Biden administration put the brakes on fracking and
speed up the transition away from fossil fuels.”



Scientists have warned that to prevent the worst effects
<https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/worlds-governments-must-wind-down-fossil-fuel-production-6-year>
of
the climate crisis, oil, gas, and coal production must rapidly decrease
worldwide, and ultimately end. In spite of this dire warning, the federal
government has for years rubber-stamped more oil and gas leasing, locking
in more greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this leasing has involved public
lands in the western U.S.



The groups’ agreements provide new hope that the Biden administration will
change course from previous federal administrations. President Biden
already ordered a pause on new oil and gas leasing as part of an executive
order tackling the climate crisis. Although this pause was halted by a
federal judge, the administration has appealed this ruling
<https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-appeals-federal-court-decision-block-oil-gas-leasing-pause-2021-08-16/>
.



In 2016, the groups filed suit challenging the sale of nearly 460,000 acres
of public lands oil and gas leases in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Filed in
the U.S. District Court for the District of D.C., the case was the first to
target the failure of Interior to address the nationwide climate impacts of
its oil and gas leasing program.



In 2019, Judge Contreras ruled in favor
<https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/landmark-climate-victory-federal-court-rejects-sale-of-public-lands-for-fracking/>
of
the groups. In the landmark ruling, Judge Contreras chided the federal
government for ignoring the cumulative climate implications of oil and gas
leasing.



Following this ruling, the groups again filed suit in 2020
<https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/advocates-file-multi-state-suit-to-protect-climate-public-health-from-fracking/>
, challenging nearly 2 million acres of oil and gas leases in Colorado,
Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Interior ultimately conceded defeat
<https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/feds-review-climate-implications-of-selling-1-8-million-acres-of-public-lands-for-fracking-in-american-west/>
in
late 2020 over most of the leasing. Shortly after, Judge Contreras issued
another ruling
<https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/federal-court-again-slams-trump-administration-for-ignoring-climate-consequences-of-selling-public-lands-for-fracking/>
in
favor of the groups over the federal government’s failure to respond to his
original order on remand.



In January 2021, right before President Biden assumed office, the groups again
filed suit
<https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/as-president-biden-takes-office-groups-double-down-on-legal-push-to-end-fracking-on-public-lands/>
challenging
the sale of more than 1 million acres of oil and gas leases in the western
U.S.



The settlements resolve the three lawsuits, committing the Biden
administration to address the climate implications of oil and gas leasing
and reconsider past decisions. Citing the agreements, Judge Contreras today
dismissed the three lawsuits.



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