Groups sues Obama administration in challenge of oil and gas development


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SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of environmental groups is suing the Obama administration to overturn all federal oil and gas leases issued in Utah and two other Western states since 2015, insisting impacts of climate change are being ignored.

The lawsuit targeting leases on nearly 380,000 acres was filed Thursday by WildEarth Guardians and Physicians for Social Responsibility, and also seeks a moratorium on any new leasing until an analysis of the U.S. Department of the Interior program is complete.

“President Obama seems to get climate change, but he has an unexplainable blind spot when it comes to leasing public lands to oil and gas companies,” said Tim Ream, WildEarth Guardians climate and energy campaign director.

The suit challenges 397 leases in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.

“The Interior Department is in climate denial,” said Samantha Ruscavage-Barz, staff attorney at WildEarth Guardians. “We’re breaking global temperature records every month, and every month Interior ignores climate impacts and leases more and more oil and gas from public lands. When does it stop?”

The oil and gas industry has filed its own lawsuit against the federal government over not holding quarterly lease sales it asserts are required by the Mineral Leasing Act.

"The lawsuit by WildEarth Guardians and other keep-it-in-the-ground actions by the environmental lobby are exactly why Western Energy Alliance has taken an aggressive stand to remind (the Bureau of Land Management) and the Interior Department about the actual law which requires oil and natural gas leasing to move forward," said Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government and public affairs for the Western Energy Alliance.

"On the other hand, WildEarth is trying to force the government to violate the law. It’s much easier to just file a frivolous lawsuit than it is to change the law through Congress," Sgamma added.

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Amy Joi O'Donoghue

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