© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Click here for information on transmitter status in the Treasure and Magic Valleys
A regional collaboration of public media stations that serve the Rocky Mountain States of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Greens Threaten Lawsuit After BLM Issues Trump-Era Drilling Leases

BLM New Mexico

The Bureau of Land Management is moving ahead with about three dozen new oil and gas leases in New Mexico, despite the Biden administration's decision in January to freeze such transactions across federal public lands.

The 37 leases, on lands within the massive Permian Basin oilfield, were originally put up for auction during the last days of the Trump administration. Still, Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians' energy and climate campaign director, believes they violate the moratorium that Biden's Interior Department put in place as it reviews the federal oil and gas leasing program's economics and climate impacts.

"It really struck us as odd that the Bureau of Land Management decided it was appropriate to essentially lease when the president has very explicitly said, 'There shall be no leasing at the moment,'" Nichols said. "We’re likely going to file a new lawsuit and sadly having to confront President Biden and Interior Secretary Haaland for turning their backs on climate science and the public interest."

Richard Packer, a BLM spokesperson, said the leases were issued after the agency determined that environmental reviews were complete and land management conflicts minimized.

"Lease sale postponements announced by the Biden-Harris administration have no impact on existing operations or permits for valid, existing leases," Packer said.

The BLM could issue over 200 more oil and gas leases in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming that were sold in the final weeks of the Trump administration, E&E News reports.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain We

Nate Hegyi is a roving regional reporter for the Mountain West News Bureau, based at Nevada Public Radio. You can reach him at natehegyi@protonmail.com.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.