Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** The Estonian oil company hoarding Colorado River water
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Friday, October 21, 2022
Dinosaur National Monument by Matthew Dillon, CC-BY 2.0 ([link removed])
An Estonian state-owned oil company wants to mine, rather than drill, for oil in Utah—and it's locked up billions of gallons of Colorado River water ([link removed]) to do it.
Grist senior writer Naveena Sadasivam reports on the proposal by Enefit American Oil to strip mine 28 million tons of oil shale rock near Dinosaur National Monument ([link removed]) . By heating the rock to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit—a process that is 75 percent more carbon-intensive than traditional fossil fuel extraction—the company says it can produce 50,000 barrels of oil a day.
In addition to the energy needed to produce the oil, the shale operation would also require millions of gallons of water a day. In 2011, Enefit purchased the rights to 10,000 acre-feet, or 3.2 billion gallons, of water from the White River, which eventually flows into the drought-stricken and oversubscribed Colorado River.
But that water right was due to expire in 2021 if the company didn't put it to use, so it found a loophole: selling all 3.2 billion gallons to an electricity cooperative for $10. The electric company then leased the water back to Enefit. That arrangement, Enefit claims, gave it a 10-year extension on the water right.
The Grand Canyon Trust and other conservation groups are challenging that sale in court, saying the water right should have returned to the state last year. If the oil shale operation succeeds, Grand Canyon Trust attorney Michael Toll warns ([link removed]) that “this project would be one of—if not the—most harmful single industrial project in the history of industrial development on the Colorado Plateau.”
Quick hits
** Alaska auctions 8 million acres of Arctic for oil drilling
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Bloomberg ([link removed])
** Oil and gas drilling affects mule deer's ability to forage
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Wyoming Public Media ([link removed])
** Fears grow over lithium boom in Nevada
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The Guardian ([link removed])
** Indigenous leaders in Texas target banks to keep LNG exports off sacred land in Brownsville
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Inside Climate News ([link removed])
** Arizona tribe announces water conservation plans, seeks federal payments
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KUNC ([link removed])
** Opinion: A reverse auction could solve the Colorado River crisis
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High Country News ([link removed])
** Millions of dollars available to ranchers who support wildlife migration
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Wyoming Public Media ([link removed])
** A Texas hiker was gored by a bison—then posted the video to TikTok
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Outside ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” We have wildfire pollution, dust pollution, particulate pollution, high volatile organic compounds, and high ozone. Approving the Enefit project would be like pouring gasoline on the fire of an existing pollution nightmare.”
—Brian Moench, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, Grist ([link removed])
Picture this
** @USFWSNews ([link removed])
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@USFWS ([link removed]) is committed to working with Tribes in conserving America’s wildlife & shared natural heritage. We’re awarding $5.9+ million in Tribal Wildlife Grants to fund conservation projects led by 33 Tribes across 16 states: [link removed]… ([link removed])
Photo of endangered black-footed ferret by Kimberly Fraser/USFWS.
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