New Mexico environmentalists have sought to block a federal sale of public land to the oil and gas industry as about 500 acres of the state’s southeastern Permian Basin region were set to be auctioned off this summer.
The sale, if it occurs, would be the first of new federal leases in the Permian — the most active oil and gas field in the United States — since President Joe Biden’s administration took office in 2021.
Upon taking office, the Biden administration halted all new leasing of federal public lands to the oil and gas industry, prompting immediate reactions from industry groups and their supporters.
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In New Mexico, more than half of its oil and gas extraction occurs on federal lands, activities that account for about a third of the state budget.
An injunction was filed in federal court in Louisiana later that year ordering the federal government to resume sales, and in April the United States Bureau of Land Management announced that it would hold sales this summer. in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Nevada, North. Dakota and Oklahoma.
The sale in New Mexico, comprising six parcels in Lea and Chaves counties in the southeast corner of the state, was scheduled for June 16.
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As the sale date approached, environmental groups in New Mexico and across the state, led by the Western Environmental Law Center, called on the federal government to maintain its suspension of new leases and phase out fossil fuels.
They argued that such action was necessary to protect the environment from further harm, and that a report released by the Home Office amid the lease hiatus was insufficient to address climate impacts. fossil fuels.
Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director at Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians, said Biden must deliver on his campaign promises to tackle pollution and climate change.
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Continuing to extract oil and gas, Nichols said, flies in the face of such statements.
“The sale of public land to the oil and gas industry is absolutely 100% guaranteed to continue fueling the climate crisis,” Nichols said. “President Biden’s belief that we can open the door to more fracking and protect our climate is simply out of touch with truth, reality, and what is right.”
Melissa Hornbein, senior counsel at the Western Environmental Law Center, has argued for the world to avoid global warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, the threshold the international scientific community has discovered will lead to extreme weather events, around 40% of fuels fossils must stay in the ground.
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This objective would be threatened by the expansion of the leasing of public lands to industry.
“Even if that 40% is kept underground, our chances of staying below 1.5°C are worse than a game of Russian roulette,” Hornbein said. “Why is the government rigging this dangerous game of speculation in favor of the oil industry, when a livable climate is at stake? The science is clear: there is simply no room for additional oil and gas leases. »
In a separate petition, groups in New Mexico have joined again in calling on the Department of the Interior to develop a new policy to “modernize” its fossil fuel policy to better consider environmental impacts.
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Demis Foster with Conservation Voters New Mexico called on the US Department of the Interior to use its powers under the Federal Land Police and Management Act to block any activity such as oil and gas development that could harm the environment.
“Congress has created the tools necessary to repair decades of degradation and ensure our federal public lands can be used to address the climate crisis, provide equitable access to the outdoors, and support a growing outdoor recreation economy. , and lay the foundation for a future our children can be proud of,” Foster said.
Mara Yarbrough, campaign director at New Mexico’s Permian Basin Climate Justice Coalition, said new rules were needed to ensure public land management avoids environmental harm and also supported local communities on the profits of private industry.
“By passing the rules proposed in this petition, the Interior will open new doors to usher in an era of sustainable public land use that can mitigate past and present harmful practices, curb climate change, and create opportunities for communities to disproportionately affected frontlines can thrive,” Yarbrough said.
“We urge the Interior to act within its authority and take definitive climate action by adopting this proposed framework.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
