Events of the past year drove home the reality of our changing climate. Colorado experienced the three largest wildfires in recorded history, two of which burned across high mountain forests in October, a month normally reserved for the onset of…
In 2014, our region gained notoriety as the nation’s methane hotspot. Researchers at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration noticed via satellite measurements a plume of methane over the Four Corners that dwarfed anywhere else in the country….
In New Mexico, oil and gas operations release more than 1 million metric tons of methane every year into the atmosphere. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, this has the same short-term impacts as 22 coal-fired power plants or 28…
Public Meeting on NM Methane Regulations July 29th, 1-5 pm San Juan Community College, IT building -Room 7103 4601 College Blvd, Farmington, NM 87402 Make your voice heard to help enact much needed methane regulation in New Mexico! The…
Photo: Rob Zeigler It’s certainly promising, if not surprising, that Department of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is making promises to protect Greater Chaco. We’re grateful to Senator Heinrich for playing a key role in orchestrating Bernhardt’s visit to Chaco Cultural…
This month, the Colorado legislature passed landmark oil and gas reform legislation that directs the state to adopt next generation methane standards and expand air quality protections statewide. On Tuesday, the Air Quality Control Division will hold a public hearing…
“This lease sale is just another example of the BLM putting the cart before the horse. We’ve been waiting for years for the BLM to complete its Resource Management Plans for the Greater Chaco. But the agency continues to allow…
Colorado is finally trying to revamp the regulation of oil and gas development for the 21st century. And it’s long overdue. For decades, Colorado’s official charge to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission was to “foster” oil and…
It is completely indefensible to continue to lease parcels in Greater Chaco to oil and gas without having a plan in place to ensure protections for air, water, public health, and the rich history embedded in the landscape. TheBureau of…
It’s time to speak out in defense of Greater Chaco again. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington and Rio Puerco field offices in northwestern New Mexico continue to allow oil and gas companies to frack without a plan in…
After almost 6 years spent outside of Farmington and San Juan County, it is great to be back in the community I grew up in and will always call home. It is refreshing to experience the kindness I remember being…
We who live in these parts sometimes call it the Four Corners, other times the San Juan Basin or even the Colorado Plateau. It’s reflective of the geographic flexibility of our home region, one that water and air easily transcends….
While Colorado has been a national leader in establishing state-wide methane rules to limit waste, a task force is calling for more to be done to curb ozone pollution stemming from the oil and gas industry. With many counties, particularly…
Victory! Excellent decision today putting the public back into decisions about our public lands! The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission took all of 5 minutes to grant a re-hearing on the rule allowing for double drilling in Rio Arriba and…
Elections matter. That fact is being clearly made in New Mexico, where the public voted in a new administration with vastly different values when it comes to our public lands, among other things. We are thrilled that the new administration…
Photo: WildEarth Guardians We’ve been working to protect the Greater Chaco region from rampant and largely uncontrolled drilling for over ten years. Sadly, the need for protections is only increasing. Our partners organized a rally of over 200 people to…
Again? Yes, again. It’s hard to keep track how many times and in how many different ways this administration has attempted to gut the two common-sense methane rules established under the Obama Administration. Secretary Zinke has tried, and failed, twice…
Today, while government leaders convene from across the world at the Global Climate Action Summit, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released their plan to weaken critical methane pollution protections. Last summer we went to D.C. to comment on the…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 2, 2018 Colorado County and Conservation Groups Sue Trump Administration Again Over Southwest Colorado Oil and Gas Leases San Miguel County, Rocky Mountain Wild, the San Juan Citizens’ Alliance, and Conservation Colorado filed another lawsuit against…
The road for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane waste rule has been long and winding, and unfortunately we’re not at the end. Last week, however, we threw a big wrench in Secretary Zinke’s never-ending attempts to rollback this…
Last night, we heard news we didn’t dare hope for: Secretary Zinke canceled next week’s oil and gas lease sale in Greater Chaco. This is because of you. You and thousands of others who spoke up and said drilling without a…
After hundreds of you spoke up in support of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane rule, Secretary Zinke is gutting it. In a move that proves the Administration will bend to corporate interests over public interests, Zinke just put…
This fall, over 175,000 people commented against a proposed delay of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane rule, a rule that is particularly important for those of us under the Four Corners Methane Hotspot and suffer the royalty losses,…
Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issuing a one-year delay of the BLM methane regulations, pushing aside 175,000 public comments, a vast majority of westerners, and the public interest of New Mexico. Read the full press release below, learn…
This administration is committed to rolling back environmental and public health protections for the benefit of corporate profits. And they have perseverence. First they tried to erase the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane waste rule entirely using the Congressional…
Yesterday, alongside our members and tribal partners, we took to D.C. to stand up for clean air. Since entering office, the Trump Administration has attacked both Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane regulations. We saved…
Photo: Carlan Tapp Cue the third branch of government. When you have an administration willing to defy law in order to pursue industry’s agenda, checks and balances become increasingly important. That’s why when the BLM announced an illegal indefinite postponement of their…
This week, despite recognizing the disproportionate impact it will have on our children, the Bureau of Land Management and Environmental Protection Agency both postponed the implementation of their methane regulations so they can revisit and rewrite them. Delaying and…
Call Senator Gardner and tell him you want him to put his constituents above special interests. CALL: (202) 224-5941 Senator Cory Gardner’s vote this morning to roll back the BLM Methane Rule tells us a lot about his alliances. Unfortunately, Coloradans…
Do you know the name George Lakoff? If you don’t, you should. George Lakoff is a professor of cognitive science and linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley and an author of Don’t Think of an Elephant. It’s a…
Today, the U.S.House of Representatives put the special interests of big oil and gas companies ahead of the public interest by voting to roll back the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane rule. The measure now heads to the Senate….
The greatest concentration of methane in the country floats above us here in the Four Corners. Although we can’t see it, it’s not harmless. In addition to being a powerful greenhouse gas, over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, it’s released…
In 2014 we (the San Juan Basin) became the national methane hotspot. Last month we had a huge win in curbing the hotspot with the passing of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s methane standards… and they’re already under attack. But before…
Today we filed a motion to intervene in the case recently brought against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane rule. The rule would protect the climate, public health, and our economy. It would also help address the Four Corners methane hotspot….
Today, the Obama Administration released the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane rule, aimed at curbing natural gas waste on public and tribal lands. It’s a win-win regulation. The standard will help to end the waste of valuable public resources,…
Today, the Obama Administration released the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane rule, aimed at curbing natural gas waste on public and tribal lands. It’s a win-win regulation. The standard will help to end the waste of valuable public resources,…
Friends, At the close of the constitutional convention in 1787, Ben Franklin strode out the doors of Independence Hall to be greeted by a question from an onlooker in the crowd. “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a…
It’s easy to overlook what’s happening in oil and gas fields. Most of us don’t live at ground zero and the pollution is often invisible to the human eye. So, last weekend SJCA bussed folks from Durango, CO 45-miles south to Bloomfield, NM. We examined…
Area threatened by existing oil and gas development (yellow) on top of public lands (blue) in Northwest New Mexico. See oilandgasthreatmap.com for interactive map. You can’t drive through Northwest New Mexico and Southwest Colorado and miss our region’s oil…
The oil and gas industry is awfully, dangerously, predictable. This week, in response to NASA fingering oil and gas operations as the primary cause of the infamous Four Corners methane hot spot, industry shills did what industry shills do: distort…
Today NASA published a report that confirms the energy industry, primarily the natural gas extraction industry, is responsible for the Four Corners methane hotspot. The Four Corners methane hotspot is yet another environmental climate and public health disaster served to our…
Today the Environmental Protection Agency finalized standards for dangerous oil and gas methane pollution from new infrastructure. These are the first-ever national safeguards limiting methane waste and pollution and will go far to protect public health, address climate change, and…
This morning President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a pact between the two countries to take climate change head on. They announced intentions to reduce methane pollution from oil and gas industry by 40-45 percent over the…
Hey all, there is a really important meeting on Tuesday, February 16th in Farmington that we want you to know about. It’s from 1-4 pm, which we know is hard for a lot of people. If you can make it,…
Great news. Today the BLM released its proposed methane waste rule. We’ve worked on the rule, and advised BLM on its contents, with our partners Western Environmental Law Center and Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment. The rule is 300 pages,…
What’s going on with the infamous Four Corners methane hotspot? Over a hundred people joined us on October 28th to hear Jonathan Thompson, Journalist and Senior Editor for High Country News, deliver the Four Corner’s Methane Forum’s featured presentation. The…
For Immediate Release: September 22, 2015 Media Contacts: Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-613-4197, eriksg@westernlaw.org Tom Singer, Western Environmental Law Center, 505-231-1070, singer@westernlaw.org Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, 505-360-8994, mike@sanjuancitizens.org Carol Davis, Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, 928-221-7859, caroljdavis.2004@gmail.com EPA Methane…
By now I’m sure you’ve heard the news. The Four Corners region is the “methane hot spot” of the country. To help the public better understand the science behind this unfortunate designation, The Four Corners Public Science Forum on Methane…
Sometimes people say outrageous things. Case in point: In response to the Obama administration announcing plans to cut methane emissions, the president of the Institute for Energy Research uttered this: “EPA’s proposed methane regulation is redundant, costly and unnecessary. Energy…
