From Center for Western Priorities <[email protected]>
Subject Look West: First onshore oil and gas lease sale draws meager interest, two lawsuits
Date June 30, 2022 2:36 PM
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Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** First onshore oil and gas lease sale draws meager interest, two lawsuits
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Thursday, June 30, 2022
Pumpjacks in Wyoming. BLM Wyoming, Flickr ([link removed])

The Biden administration's first onshore oil and gas lease sale began yesterday with around 99,000 acres ([link removed]) offered in Wyoming. Oil and gas companies declined to bid on over a third ([link removed]) of the parcels offered yesterday, or around half of the acreage offered, indicating the industry is less interested in leasing federal land than it has previously claimed ([link removed]) .

Meanwhile, a dozen environmental groups filed two separate lawsuits ([link removed]) yesterday over the federal oil and gas lease sale currently underway.

The sale includes roughly 160 parcels spanning about 130,000 acres across the West and Oklahoma, with 90 percent of that acreage located in Wyoming. The Bureau of Land Management offered around 20 percent of the total acreage oil and gas companies requested be included in the sale.

One lawsuit, filed by Earthjustice on behalf of The Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth, alleges the Wyoming lease sale violates the National Environmental Policy Act ([link removed]) . The second lawsuit, filed by Western Environmental Law on behalf of ten other groups, alleges the entire lease sale violates ([link removed]) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

The two-day lease sale continues today with around 30,000 acres to be offered in Wyoming and other states.


** Monuments to America’s past
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In recent decades, presidents have used the Antiquities Act to help shape our collective understanding of what counts as U.S. history, designating national monuments that tell the stories of women as well as Black, LGBTQ, Latino, and Indigenous people.

A new interactive storymap ([link removed]) from the Center for Western Priorities puts this shift into context, with information about the history of the Antiquities Act and its evolution under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

The map also identifies four proposed national monuments that President Joe Biden could designate today in order to honor the history of people of color in the U.S.
Quick hits


** Orphan well cleanup funds don’t go far enough in Wyoming
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WyoFile ([link removed])


** Environmental groups file suit over federal oil and gas lease sale
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Reuters ([link removed]) | Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed]) | Wyoming Public Media ([link removed]) | CNN ([link removed]) | Salon ([link removed]) | Idaho Capital Sun
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** Why is it taking so long to get single-use plastics out of national parks?
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Popular Science ([link removed])


** Fossil fuel jobs fell in 2021, according to DOE report
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Judge rules feds must split $1 billion New Mexico mine cleanup with Chevron
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Bloomberg Law ([link removed])


** San Juan Basin fossil fuel transition slowed by economic and cultural bonds
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Environmental lawyers brace for Supreme Court climate ruling today
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Yellowstone's tiniest inhabitants have high tech applications
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Yellowstone Public Radio ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” The Southwest, where Bears Ears sits, is facing its worst drought in 1200 years. All five tribes of the intertribal coalition remember the last drought over a millennia ago because our ancestors saw it, and these stories are codified in our history.”
—Dr. Len Necefer on how tribal co-management can help address climate change, Outside ([link removed])
Picture this


** @JoshuaTreeNPS ([link removed])
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🚨New species alert!🚨
It's not every day that a new species is confirmed in the park, but the zone-tailed hawk is now on our bird species list after a park wildlife camera captured a photo of one! These hawks have been expanding northward for the last few decades.

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