Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** SCOTUS rejects bid by 19 states to kill climate cases
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Tuesday, March 11, 2025
BLM California ([link removed])
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a bid ([link removed]) by 19 states to end climate litigation brought by five other states against oil and gas companies. The American Petroleum Institute and other industry parties are implicated in the lawsuits ([link removed]) , which will be allowed to move forward thanks to the decision.
The cases in question were brought by five states against oil companies, who the states claim ([link removed]) owe compensation for the costs of rising tides, intensifying storms, and other disasters worsened by climate change. The Supreme Court is the only court that can hear legal battles among states, but does not have to hear ([link removed]) all such cases.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall led the 19 states ([link removed]) in their request, which argued that climate liability lawsuits launched by states against oil companies pose “grave consequences” for their own residents and would boost the price of gas. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is leading one of the climate liability lawsuits against oil companies, said ([link removed]) the 19 states' SCOTUS petition ([link removed]) was “never anything more than an attempt to run interference, help the defendants in our cases avoid accountability, and play politics with the Constitution.”
Taxpayers could be owed billions in oil revenue
The management of federal oil and gas resources is on the Government Accountability Office's recently released “High Risk List" ([link removed]) for the eighth time in a row ([link removed]) . The list highlights federal programs that are vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.
The report finds that the Interior Department, which collects oil royalties from companies that drill on federal lands, may not be collecting the government’s fair share ([link removed]) due to outdated data collection systems, including the system used to verify oil and gas production volumes.
Additionally, the Office of Natural Resources Revenue stopped estimating an annual royalty gap, which is the difference between the royalties Interior received and what oil and gas producers should be paying. The last time ONRR provided an estimate was in 2011, when the gap was around $100 million.
** Quick hits
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Trump just weakened one of the nation’s oldest environmental laws
Washington Post ([link removed])
Opinion: The Trump administration poses a significant threat to Utah’s national monuments
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
DOGE to eliminate Lander Fish and Wildlife office, Cheyenne USGS water science station
WyoFile ([link removed])
What old trees can teach us about modern wildfires
Washington Post ([link removed])
How Big Tech is tracking your outdoor adventures
5280 ([link removed])
A bipartisan bill could lead to the creation of a single federal wildfire service
Boise State Public Radio ([link removed])
‘They’re cutting the muscle’: Public land supporters decry layoffs at NM rally
Santa Fe New Mexican ([link removed])
Wyoming slashes taxes for coal, sets up a CO2 fund to boost oil and gas
WyoFile ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” Wildfire is one of the greatest threats to the U.S. right now.”
—Riva Duncan ([link removed]) , vice president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters
** Picture This
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@USFWS ([link removed])
Have you ever noticed a bird wiping its beak on a branch? The world is their napkin! Birds like this red-breasted nuthatch will wipe their beaks to clean them, especially after eating messy foods like fruit, suet or insects.
📸 Courtney Celley/USFWS
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