WildEarth Guardians

Monday, November 14, 2016
Guardians Appeals to Defend Climate from Public Lands Fracking in Colorado and Utah

Obama Administration to Hand Over More Than 30,000 Acres of Public Land to Oil and Gas Industry
Contact: Jeremy Nichols, (303) 437-7663, jnichols@wildearthguardians.org

Denver—WildEarth Guardians today challenged the Obama Administration’s plans to open up more than 30,000 acres of public lands for fracking in Colorado and Utah, a move that promises to unleash more carbon pollution and undermine clean energy.

“The Obama Administration is bent on catering to the demands of the fracking industry,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director.  “We’re standing up and saying it’s time to put the American public and our climate first, it’s time for our federal government to stop letting the oil and gas industry’s profits trump our lands.” 

In two administrative appeals, also called protests, filed with the Bureau of Land Management, WildEarth Guardians challenged the agency’s plans to lease more than 12,000 acres of public lands in Utah and more than 20,000 acres of public lands in Colorado.

These public lands are owned by all Americans and managed by the federal government.

The lands that would be auctioned off to the oil and gas industry include thousands of acres in the Greater Dinosaur region of northeastern Utah, which surrounds Dinosaur National Monument, as well as lands along the Colorado River in western Colorado.

Guardians’ appeals challenge the Bureau of Land Management’s failure to address the climate consequences of opening up public lands for fracking.  Drilling and fracking produces enormous amounts of carbon pollution, while processing and burning oil and gas is a major contributor to global warming.  According to a report by The Wilderness Society, oil and gas development on public lands produces 10% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Reports indicate that unleased publicly owned oil and gas reserves stand to unleash nearly 90 billion metric tons of carbon pollution if they’re developed.

In August, WildEarth Guardians filed suit over the failure of the Bureau of Land Management to address the climate impacts of leasing nearly 400,000 acres across of public lands across the American West.  Today’s appeals advance the same arguments and aim to spur the federal government to impose a timeout on new oil and gas leasing and conduct a comprehensive review of the climate impacts of oil and gas leasing nationwide.

“With the next Administration pledging to pull out all the stops for the oil and gas industry and to put climate denial into overdrive, restraint is more critical than ever,” said Nichols.  “The Obama Administration has a chance to leave a proud climate legacy, but it won’t happen if they continue to appease the fracking industry at the expense of our climate.”