Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** The route and risks of Colorado-bound oil trains from Utah
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Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Historic photo of Rio Grande Zephyr train in Glenwood Canyon next to the Colorado River. Source: Bruce Fingerhood, Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])

The proposed 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway would bring up to five two-mile long trains carrying oil from Utah through Colorado each day. The project would haul an average daily load of 315,000 barrels of waxy crude oil, ranking it among the largest daily transports of crude oil by rail ever undertaken in the U.S.

The U.S. Forest Service has approved a key permit ([link removed]) to build the new railway through a protected area in Utah’s Ashley National Forest. As part of the approval process, federal regulators analyzed the potential “downline impacts ([link removed]) ” of the new railway, predicting that a spill of up to 30,000 gallons of oil would occur roughly once every five years.

Local opposition to the project is growing, especially in light of recent accidents with trains carrying hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio ([link removed]) and just last week in the Yellowstone River ([link removed]) . Colorado communities along the route have called the government's review “fatally flawed,” arguing that it didn’t adequately study the risks of spills, fires, and other accidents on some of the most precarious stretches of railroad in the country, including along the Colorado River.

This week, Colorado Newsline is publishing a five-part series called "Down the Line ([link removed]) " that traces the eastbound route of the proposed rail line through some of Colorado's most scenic, fragile, and densely populated areas, including valleys, boomtowns, canyons, headwaters, and finally, the city.
Quick hits


** Appeals court to hear challenges to Nevada lithium mine from Tribes, environmentalists
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | NPR ([link removed])


** BLM affirms 2022 purchase of Wyoming private ranch
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WyoFile ([link removed])


** The risks and route of Colorado-bound oil trains from Utah
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Colorado Newsline ([link removed])


** Solar development is taking off in the Mojave Desert, but at what cost?
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) | Inside Climate News ([link removed])


** Samuel Alito's wife struck a deal with an oil company while the Supreme Court Justice fought the EPA
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The Intercept ([link removed]) | Business Insider ([link removed]) | Daily Beast ([link removed])


** Utah to gain thousands of valuable acres through Bears Ears land swap
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Students aid Colorado River endangered fish recovery efforts
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Aspen Journalism ([link removed])


** The miller moth is hard to love but it deserves our respect
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High Country News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” Beginning with the June migration, the miller, or army cutworm moth, touches nearly every denizen in the region—their faces, their pillows, their window panes—but rarely their hearts.”
—Samuel Shaw, editorial intern at High Country News ([link removed])
Picture this


** @NatlParkService ([link removed])
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Thermal features are so hot right now.

Well, most of the time.

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