The Bureau of Land Management recently announced the withdrawal of 351,000 acres of land from oil and gas drilling over the next 20 years within a 10-mile radius around Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
While this is a promising first step, frontline communities need the Biden administration to go a step further by ending all fossil fuel extraction on federal lands and cutting Big Oil’s stranglehold on our energy future.
For over a century, the Greater Chaco region has been treated as an energy sacrifice zone. In addition to being home to communities harmed by endless drilling in this region, Chaco Canyon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a sacred ancestral site for the Hopi and Pueblo people.
This protection would not be possible without constant pressure from the Indigenous-led Greater Chaco Coalition, which we’re proud to be a part of. However, along with the Greater Chaco Coalition, we have criticized the bureau’s announcement for failing to provide a long-term solution that protects the health and cultural sites of New Mexico’s Chaco community.
President Biden promised to end drilling and fracking on public lands during his 2020 campaign, but instead has continued the approval of leases for oil and gas exploration across the U.S. – including a massive sale of new leases off the Gulf Coast.
President Biden’s actions showcase yet again his failure to fulfill his campaign promise to ban fracking on public lands.
New Mexico is the country’s second largest oil producer and a potential new hub for fossil hydrogen, an energy source that would lock in filthy fossil fuel extraction and production for decades to come.
If Biden’s administration fails to do the right thing, New Mexico will serve as one more reminder of Biden’s failure to protect the country’s climate and communities from profiteering corporations.
Food & Water Watch and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Action, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate.
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