Jackie, Author at Western Environmental Law Center

Court ruling: Feds illegally approved Colorado gas drilling in elk habitat

Mar 27, 2019 | News Release

A federal judge ruled today that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service illegally approved two adjacent natural gas drilling plans in western Colorado, finding that officials did not adequately analyze wildlife and climate impacts. In today’s...

2017 Docket

Feb 15, 2017 | Uncategorized

WELC Docket 2017.pdf

Water too precious to reopen exempt well loophole

Nov 30, 2016 | Op-ed, Victory! Montana Exempt Well Loophole

This September, on behalf of four ranchers and the Clark Fork Coalition, my colleague Matthew Bishop and I successfully challenged a rule that allowed large developments to bypass water permitting. The state Supreme Court agreed that the rule was out of step with the...

My View: Finally, a smoking gun in New Mexico’s methane ‘hot spot’

Sep 7, 2016 | Op-ed

Erik Schlenker-Goodrich In 2014, New Mexico made national headlines when scientists discovered an atmospheric anomaly above the Four Corners: a 2,500-square-mile cloud of methane (natural gas) — the largest such plume in the nation. At the time, industry data showed...

NASA Says Methane “Hot Spot” in New Mexico Linked Directly to Gas Extraction and Coal Mining (News Release 8/15/16)

Aug 16, 2016 | News Release

Study says 250 polluters are responsible for half of the emissions causing the “hot spot” Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico NASA released a new study today examining what caused a methane “hot spot” to form in New Mexico. This new study of methane...

Guest opinion: Coal mine threatens Bull Mountain water supply

Apr 4, 2016 | Uncategorized

Shiloh Hernandez and Derf JohnsonIn the Bull Mountains, an hour or so northeast of Billings, two important forces in Montana’s history — coal mining and ranching — are butting heads in a way that says a lot about possible paths for the state’s future.Montana’s Board...

Washington State Youth Win Unprecedented Decision in their Climate Change Lawsuit (Press Release 6/24/15)

Jun 24, 2015 | News Release

Judge Orders Washington Environmental Agency to Consider Youth-Proposed Carbon Dioxide ReductionsLocation:Seattle, Washington On Tuesday, King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill issued a landmark decision in Zoe & Stella Foster v. Washington Department of...

Proposed Piñon Pipeline Draws Huge Outpouring of Opposition (Press Release 1/29/15)

Jan 29, 2015 | News Release

More than 10,000 comments against the pipeline submitted to BLM before tomorrow’s deadlineLocation:Farmington, NMIn what is one of the largest outpourings of its kind in New Mexico’s history, more than 10,000 citizens from around the U.S. submitted comments this month...

U.S. Forest Service Withdraws Oil and Gas Drilling Approval in the Gunnison National Forest, Headwaters of the North Fork Valley (Press Release 1/20/15)

Jan 20, 2015 | News Release

Conservationists settle lawsuit after the government agrees to conduct a comprehensive environmental analysis of the drilling projectLocation:Gunnison County, COConservationists have settled a lawsuit that challenged the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of a new natural...