On behalf of WildEarth Guardians and Physicians for Social Responsibility, we challenged the federal\u00a0leasing of 463,553 acres of public lands to the oil and gas industry.\u00a0The lands opened up for fracking in recently include the Pawnee National Grassland in Colorado, the Red Desert of southern Wyoming, and the Fishlake National Forest in Utah. This suit aimed to protect these and other public lands, while pressing for climate accountability.<\/p>\n
This campaign sought a program-wide analysis of federal oil and gas program impacts on the climate and on taxpayers, and a moratorium on new leasing until that analysis is complete. The suit also advances the goals of the \u201cKeep it in the Ground\u201d movement, which aims to permanently halt new coal, oil, and gas leasing on public lands and waters.<\/p>\n
In March 2019, we won the part of our case specific to Wyoming, halting oil and gas drilling on 300,000 acres in the state. The broad-reaching victory will affect leasing throughout the U.S. with regards to climate analysis, and the scope of the impact has enormous potential to speed the country’s just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.<\/p>\n
WELC litigation also prompted <\/span><\/span>the Bureau of Land Management to rescind the Grand Junction resource management plan by challenging the agency\u2019s failure to analyze its potential harm to the climate. The plan, which the Bureau must now redo, opened nearly 1 million acres of public land in western Colorado to fracking and drilling and prioritized fossil fuel production over all other public lands values.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#f1f3f2″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”30px||30px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding_tablet=”30px||40px|”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Partners” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related Documents” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Staff” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Kyle Tisdel: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding_tablet=”30px||40px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on” collapsed=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Project Updates” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blog admin_label=”Latest 5 Posts” fullwidth=”on” posts_number=”5″ show_thumbnail=”off” show_content=”off” show_more=”off” show_author=”off” show_date=”off” show_categories=”off” show_comments=”off” show_pagination=”on” offset_number=”0″ use_overlay=”off” background_layout=”light” use_dropshadow=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” include_categories=”139″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on” collapsed=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]<\/p>\n 2017.02.24-KSNM Intervene OR Mtn and Memo.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n 2017.02.24-KSNM Intervene Memo.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n President Clinton designated the Klamath-Siskiyou National Monument in 2000. It is the first and only national monument specifically established to Soon after, a timber company and the Association of O&C Counties, keen on logging, filed separate lawsuits suggesting an obscure law requires the area be logged and supersedes the Antiquities Act, used to designate and expand the monument. They’re wrong, and we’re representing the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, Klamath-Siskiyou Wild, Oregon Wild, and the Wilderness Society, defending the monument from this industry attack.<\/p>\n (WELC project #484)<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on” collapsed=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]<\/p>\n 2013.07.23 Coal Train ED_WA Complaint Final.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n ED.Order on MTD.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n 60 Day Notice Letter.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n 2013.6.4 Complaint_final.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n 100_158_CoalDust_FactSht_04_X1A__2_.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n WELC and its partners have filed two lawsuits against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) and several coal companies for violations of the federal Clean Water Act pertaining to the companies\u2019 emission of coal into waterways in several locations across Washington.<\/p>\n These companies use open-top rail cars, which lose huge volumes of coal dust during transportation \u2013 an average of 500 pounds of coal per rail car per train trip. Each train is composed of 120 cars or more, which adds up to 30 tons of lost coal per train. Investigations undertaken by our clients have turned up coal chunks and particles from rail cars in Washington\u2019s waters.<\/p>\n Approximately 90% of BNSF’s annual coal shipments are from coal mines in the Powder River Basin (PRB) located in Wyoming and Montana. PRB coal breaks apart easily and contains mercury, arsenic, uranium, and hundreds of other toxins harmful to fish and human health. Additionally, PRB coal dust falls onto train tracks, contributing to track destabilization and dangerous train derailments.<\/p>\n On June 5, 2013,\u00a0WELC attorney Andrea Rodgers and partners filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, where coal dust has been identified in and along multiple waterways including the Pugent Sound. On July 24, 2013, we filed another lawsuit in\u00a0U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane, where coal dust has been identified in and along multiple waterways including the Spokane and Columbia Rivers.<\/p>\n Under the Clean Water Act, anyone discharging pollutants into U.S. waters must first obtain what is known as a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. BNSF does not have such a permit.<\/p>\n Our partners in these lawsuits are the Sierra Club, Puget Soundkeeper, Columbia Riverkeeper, RE Sources for Sustainable Communities, and Friends of the Columbia Gorge. NRDC and Spokane Riverkeeper joined the lawsuit filed in Eastern Washington.<\/p>\n In addition to WELC, the plaintiffs are represented by the Law Offices of Charles M. Tebbutt, P.C. of Eugene, OR; Jessica Yarnall Loarie of the Sierra Club Law Program; and David Pettit and Morgan Wyenn of the Natural Resources Defense Council.<\/p>\n Updates:<\/p>\n 1.02.14: A federal judge in Spokane, Washington denies BNSF’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit aimed at holding them accountable for toxic coal dust that is released from uncovered coal cars polluting Washington’s waterways in violation of the Clean Water Act.<\/p>\n 3.12.14: Victory! A second federal judge – this one in Seattle, Washington – denied BNSF’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit aimed at holding them accountable for toxic coal dust that is released from uncovered coal cars polluting Washington’s waterways in violation of the Clean Water Act. In January, another federal judge denied BNSF’s attempt to thrown out a similar lawsuit that we filed in Spokane, Washington.<\/p>\n (WELC project #705)<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on” collapsed=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]<\/p>\n Since President Obama took office, his administration has sold more than\u00a0<\/span>10 million acres of public land<\/a>\u00a0rights to the oil and gas industry, often for as little as $2.00 per acre. That\u2019s an area 50 percent larger than Yellowstone, Everglades, Grand Canyon, Olympic, Yosemite, and Ground Smoky Mountains National Parks,\u00a0<\/span>combined<\/em>.\u00a0 Nonetheless, the Administration refuses to disclose the impacts of this oil and gas leasing on our climate.<\/span><\/p>\n On behalf of WildEarth Guardians and Physicians for Social Responsibility, we’re\u00a0challenging the Obama Administration\u2019s leasing of 379,950 acres of public lands to the oil and gas industry.<\/span>\u00a0The lands opened up for fracking in the past year include the Pawnee National Grassland in Colorado, the Red Desert of southern Wyoming, and the Fishlake National Forest in Utah. This suit aims to protect these and other public lands, while pressing for climate accountability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Leasing conveys a right to companies to drill and frack as long as they want, meaning large swaths of public lands have been transformeded into major industrial sites at the expense of recreation, wildlife, and clean air and water. I<\/span>n recent years, beloved landscapes, including Colorado\u2019s Rocky Mountains, Utah\u2019s Red Rock Country, and archeological hotspots around New Mexico\u2019s Chaco Canyon have all been leased for fracking.<\/span><\/p>\n This campaign seeks what the Obama administration has already ordered for federal coal leasing: a program-wide analysis of federal oil and gas program impacts on the climate and on taxpayers, and a moratorium on new leasing until that analysis is complete. The suit also advances the goals of the \u201cKeep it in the Ground\u201d movement, which aims to permanently halt new coal, oil, and gas leasing on public lands and waters.<\/p>\n A moratorium during the required climate study would have no impact on U.S. oil and gas production, as\u00a0only 35 percent of all leased public lands are actually producing<\/a>. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VICTORY! Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Challenge The Obama Administration sold more than\u00a010 million acres of public land\u00a0rights to the oil and gas industry, often for as little as $2.00 per acre. That\u2019s an area 50 percent larger than Yellowstone, Everglades, Grand Canyon, Olympic, Yosemite, and Ground Smoky Mountains National Parks,\u00a0combined.\u00a0 Nonetheless, the federal government\u00a0refuses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"Partners<\/h3>\n
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\nprotect biological diversity. But ecologists agreed after the designation that many of the most important parts of the region were excluded from the monument’s boundaries. In 2015, 85 scientists concerned about increasing
\nthreats to the area signed a letter urging monument expansion in to better
\nprotect and connect important habitats for the monument\u2019s spectacular variety
\nof plants and animals \u201cwhose survival in the region,\u201d according the monument\u2019s
\noriginal proclamation, \u201cdepends upon its continued ecological integrity.\u201d In January 2017, President Obama expanded the monument to include these ecologically important areas.<\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/KSNM-thumb.jpg\")
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