PIONEERING FEDERAL CLIMATE AND ENERGY LAWSUIT TO MOVE FORWARD

AMIGOS BRAVOS ♦ COMMON GROUND UNITED ♦ NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL ♦ OIL AND GAS ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT/EARTHWORKS ♦ SAN JUAN CITIZENS ALLIANCE ♦ SOUTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER ♦ WESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: February 10, 2010

Contact:
§ Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Western Environmental Law Center, 575.613.4197
§ Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, 505.360.8994

PIONEERING FEDERAL CLIMATE AND ENERGY LAWSUIT TO MOVE FORWARD Conservation Groups Win Legal Victory Against U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Taos, New Mexico. A Federal Judge has rejected an attempt by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to dismiss a pioneering lawsuit filed by conservation groups. The lawsuit, filed last year, seeks to safeguard the climate by requiring BLM to account for the climate change impacts of its oil and gas leasing decisions. In particular, the lawsuit seeks to compel BLM to require oil and gas companies to use cost-effective, proven technologies and practices which keep methane – a potent greenhouse gas at least 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide – out of the atmosphere and in the pipelines for homes, schools, and businesses.

“Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is bringing much-needed reform to the BLM’s leasing program,” said Mike Eisenfeld with the San Juan Citizens Alliance. “However, leasing reform must account for climate pollution caused by federally-authorized oil and gas development to protect our shared climate. Our lands, rivers, streams, farms, and communities are at risk.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) estimates that oil and gas operations are the largest human-made source of methane and account for 24% of total methane emissions in the United States. Fortunately, EPA has established the “Natural Gas STAR” program to encourage oil and gas companies to cut methane waste to reduce global warming pollution and recover value. EPA has identified over 120 technologies and practices to effectively reduce methane waste and make operations more efficient. For calendar year 2008, EPA estimated that this program avoided 46.3 million tons of CO2 equivalent, equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from approximately 8.5 million passenger vehicles or 6 million homes per year, and added revenue of nearly $802 million in natural gas sales – revenue which translates into additional royalties for the American public. Despite these economic and environmental gains, BLM does not require the use of these proven and profitable technologies.

“It is simply unacceptable that BLM isn’t requiring oil and gas companies which lease – and let me emphasize this – public resources to use the best available solutions to reduce waste and safeguard our climate,” said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, the Director of the Western Environmental Law Center’s Climate and Energy Program, and the conservation groups’ attorney. “The Federal Court’s ruling rejects BLM’s attempt to close the courthouse door to conservation groups and the very important issue of climate change. We now look forward to presenting our case that BLM’s oil and gas leasing decisions have ignored and rejected common-sense climate and energy solutions."