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


** Oil and gas leasing delayed due to cost-of-carbon ruling
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Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Oil infrastructure on public land in Natrona County, Wyoming. Photo: BLM, Flickr ([link removed])

A federal judge's recent invalidation of the Biden administration's social cost of carbon metric is having some unintended effects ([link removed]) —including a second oil and gas leasing pause ([link removed]) .

The Biden administration has been using an interim social cost of carbon of $51 per ton—the same figure used under Barack Obama—since last year, when it raised the cost from the Trump-era $1 per ton. But a federal judge in Louisiana ruled earlier this month that only Congress—and not the president—can set the social cost of carbon.

“Work surrounding public-facing rules, grants, leases, permits and other projects has been delayed or stopped altogether so that agencies can assess whether and how they can proceed,” the Department of Justice wrote in a legal filing late Saturday ([link removed]) .

The ruling resulted from a case brought by Republican states that argued the higher cost of carbon would hurt fossil fuel production on federal public lands. Ironically, the ruling is now delaying a first quarter lease sale in Wyoming. Since the Biden administration used the $51 per ton figure in its environmental analysis of the 179,000-acre lease sale, the analysis has been invalidated ([link removed]) . As a result, Interior has delayed announcing that sale or any others, drawing criticism from the oil and gas industry as well as Republicans in Congress.

The Justice Department said it will appeal the judge's decision. But in the meantime, a number of federal agencies—including Interior—will have to decide whether to revise environmental analyses ([link removed]) based on the ruling. That puts the Interior Department in a no-win situation, as it could be sued if it proceeds with lease sales based on the $51 per ton figure, but it could also be sued if it moves ahead with the lease sale without accounting for the cost of carbon.

“Right now the Interior Department is facing a legal minefield,” Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director at the Center for Western Priorities, told the Washington Post ([link removed]) . “It’s kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
Quick hits


** Biden administration plans border wall remediation, starting near Tucson
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Opinion: Fix oil and gas bonding to protect Colorado's public lands
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Colorado Newsline ([link removed])


** Interior Department forms new diversity council
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E&E News ([link removed]) | Department of the Interior ([link removed])


** Prayer run protests Oak Flat copper mine in Arizona
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NPR ([link removed]) | AZ Central ([link removed]) [photos]


** Biden administration announces big investments in rare earth mineral production
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Reuters ([link removed]) | T ([link removed]) he Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Former Japanese internment camp on track to become a national park
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NPR ([link removed])


** Why the White House hasn't released a plan to cut emissions by 2030
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E&E News ([link removed])


** How a 1987 avalanche changed the trajectory of Colorado skiing
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” Oak Flat is a holy ground. It's a holy place that we don't want destroyed.”
—San Carlos Apache elder Jerry Thomas on a proposed copper mine at Oak Flat in Arizona, NPR ([link removed])
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** @I ([link removed]) nterior ([link removed])
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We’re working to conserve, connect and restore 30% of our lands and waters by 2030 for the sake of our economy, our health, and to ensure that current and future generations can experience our beloved natural treasures for years to come. [link removed]… ([link removed])
Photo Sam Jezak

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