News & Updates
Lawsuit filed to defend climate, clean air from fracking in NM Permian
Conservation groups, led by citizens from Carlsbad, N.M., filed suit today to overturn the Biden administration’s approval of nearly 6,000 acres of oil and gas leases in southeast New Mexico’s Permian Basin. Originally authorized by the Trump administration, the...
Federal wildlife-killing program challenged in Montana
Today, four conservation organizations challenged the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Wildlife Services predator killing program in Montana. The legal challenge also includes the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service for approving the program's killing and removal...
Legal appeal: Ecology’s rewrite of industrial dairy permits endangers public health; threatens waterways, aquifers, ecosystems across WA
Late last week, community, environmental, and food safety advocates challenged two permits that will allow industrial animal feeding operations to continue to discharge pollution into Washington’s waters. A unanimous 2021 Washington Court of Appeals decision required...
Legal complaint: Signal Peak Energy coal mine has damaged and destroyed Bull Mountains water sources
Conservation groups have filed a formal complaint with state and federal agencies against Signal Peak Energy, a criminally-convicted coal company operating an underground coal mine in the Bull Mountains just north of Billings, Montana. The complaint cites evidence of...
Forest Service committee recruitment signals upcoming forest plan changes
Today, the Forest Service announced it will establish a Northwest Forest Plan Federal Advisory Committee “to provide advice and recommendations on landscape management approaches that promote sustainability, climate change adaptations, and wildfire resilience while...
Proposed BLM methane waste rule less disappointing than expected, could be much better
Weeks after President Biden’s remarks at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt and following nearly 18 months of internal agency deliberations, conservation groups expressed their disappointment today in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) proposed rule to prevent...
Biden heeds public feedback, improves proposed methane rule
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to strengthen methane and other emissions standards as the Biden administration participates in the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. In short, the rule is strong, it could be stronger, and we will work with the...
Forest advocates knock out massive Trump post-fire logging loophole
This month, conservation groups finalized a legal agreement with the Bureau of Land Management to reverse a Trump-era rule excluding vastly more logging in post-fire landscapes from detailed environmental review. The agreement resolves a legal challenge the groups...
Biden administration flouts climate goals with Inflation Reduction Act’s first onshore oil, gas lease sales
The Biden administration is working against U.S. climate goals and failing to protect communities, water and wildlife by auctioning oil and gas leases on public lands under the Inflation Reduction Act, climate and conservationists said in formal comments submitted...
Conservation and community leaders intervene in oil industry appeal to defend New Mexico air pollution rules
The Center for Civic Policy, Naeva, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) today announced they have filed to intervene in an appeal filed by the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico (IPANM) with the New Mexico Court...
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The House held a hearing yesterday on bills to delist grizzlies and gray wolves, an attempt to destroy the safety net the Endangered Species Act provides.
In #ESA50 anniversary, we must restore and strengthen the ESA to confront the extinction crisis.
Admit it - you've checked out for the week.
Do something educational before heading to your usual stool at the local saloon and read this story with its curious filing cabinet and a "urine yellow haze"
https://capitalandmain.com/despite-rules-new-mexico-oil-and-gas-producers-keep-polluting
Good for #weekend reading, too
Exciting to see some front-page coverage of this landmark case in @nytimes! WELC attorneys are part of the legal team representing the youth plaintiffs alongside attorneys from @youthvgov and McGarvey Law. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/climate/montana-youth-climate-lawsuit.html?smid=url-share
As @AbbieDillen said, "People always matter more than laws and regulations."
Thank you @rooseveltinst for having us at "Building the Green Transition: A Justice-Centered Vision for Permitting Reform". Justice should always have a place in the environmental movement. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1638263406309376000
WELC Executive Director @riogranderift is participating in the @rooseveltinst's "Building the Green Transition: A Justice-Centered Vision for Permitting Reform.
Here's his essay on "good permitting reform" in contrast to what many are discussing: https://medium.com/@erikschlenkergoodrich/everyone-should-have-a-say-ea488dcbe698
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