News & Updates

Today, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources is set to vote on the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act (H.R. 4776). The Western Environmental Law Center urges members of the committee to vote no on this deceptively titled...

Today Bull Mountain Land Alliance and Northern Plains Resource Council, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, challenged the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) over the agency’s practice of approving coal mine permit changes behind closed...

Six organizations sent a letter to the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), warning that at least 5,033 oil and gas leases — covering nearly 4 million acres — may now be legally invalid. The letter asks the agency to halt all new leasing and...

Today, the Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) met to consider water watchdogs’ motions to disqualify commissioners who, investigative reporting revealed, voted under duress from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Sec. James...

Today, groups and individuals representing a diverse coalition of municipalities, farm and ranch families, landowners, and conservation organizations filed a legal challenge in Montana state court against the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation...

On Thursday, November 13, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) will consider water watchdogs’ motion to disqualify 7 of 14 commissioners and vacate their July 7 vote to hear a controversial oil and gas wastewater discharge petition due to political...

The Western Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit public-interest environmental law firm, is proud to announce the addition of Amelia Marchand and Cliff Villa to its board of directors. Cliff Villa rejoined the board after serving in an appointed position with the...

10(j) rule identified one possible source of wolves, not a mandated population Denver, CO – According to a CBS News report, former congressman Greg Lopez – alongside livestock industry groups – sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service claiming that...

With $1.6 billion in liabilities at stake, New Mexicans back common-sense reform to protect communities A new statewide poll shows nearly 9 in 10 New Mexicans (89%) support requiring oil and gas corporations to pay the full cost of plugging wells. This overwhelming...

Citing hard evidence of the Lujan Grisham administration inappropriately pressuring the Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) to fast-track a new rule proposed and written by Big Oil to allow discharge of treated fracking waste to New Mexico’s rivers and streams,...