- Four conservation groups filed suit in federal court seeking injunctive relief against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for the government’s authorization of 34 oil and gas leases covering 5,942 acres of land in New Mexico.
- The leases were sold a few days before President Biden took office and the U.S. Department of Interior then formally approved the Trump-era leases in May 2021.
- Environmental justice advocates claim unmitigated oil and gas production on public lands in New Mexico are harming their health and ability to “build viable economy in [the] region in the future.”
By: Center for Biological Diversity | January 23, 2023
Lawsuit Aims to Defend Climate, Clean Air From Fracking in New Mexico’s Permian Basin
Conservation groups, led by citizens from Carlsbad, N.M., filed suit today to overturn the Biden administration’s approval of nearly 6,000 acres of oil and gas leases in southeast New Mexico’s Permian Basin.
Originally authorized by the Trump administration, the challenged leases were sold just days before President Biden took office and announced a pause on new federal oil and gas leasing to protect the climate. In spite of Biden’s promise, the U.S. Interior Department formally approved the Trump-era leasing on May 12, 2021…
“Any expansion of fracking leases belies climate science and promises more harm to frontline communities and endangered animals like lesser prairie chickens,” said Taylor McKinnon at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This lawsuit will hold the Biden administration accountable to its own climate, environmental justice and biodiversity goals.”
Read more from the Center for Biological Diversity.
