In Montana, oil and gas operations account for 12% of the State’s greenhouse gas emissions,
expected to grow 10% by 2020. These emissions consist principally of carbon dioxide and methane. Methane is particularly important to get a handle on as it is 25 times more potent of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Otherwise known as natural gas, it’s also a valuable product used to heat homes and schools that shouldn’t be wasted.

Despite the growing danger posed by climate change to Montana, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is ignoring the natural gas industry’s significant contributions to global warming pollution. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) estimates that oil and gas operations are the largest human-made source of methane and account for 24% of total methane emissions in the United States.

We are challenging the BLM in Montana on four 2008 oil and gas lease sales for failure to address greenhouse gas pollution.  The conservation groups, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, protested each of the lease sales in turn, providing BLM with information and recommendations on how to address global warming through the oil and gas leasing program.  The BLM rejected the protests.

Click here to read the press release and associated documents.