US judge halts hundreds of drilling projects in groundbreaking climate change ruling

[Judi Lynn]

In a rebuke of the Trump administration’s ‘energy-first’ agenda, a judge rules greenhouse gas emissions must be considered

Cassidy Randall in Missoula, Montana
Wed 20 Mar 2019 18.08 EDT

In the first significant check on the Trump administration’s “energy-first” agenda, a US judge has temporarily halted hundreds of drilling projects for failing to take climate change into account.

Drilling had been stalled on more than 300,000 acres of public land in Wyoming after it was ruled the Trump administration violated environmental laws by failing to consider greenhouse gas emissions. The federal judge has ordered the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages US public lands and issues leases to the energy industry, to redo its analysis.

The decision stems from an environmental lawsuit. WildEarth Guardians, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Western Environmental Law Center sued the BLM in 2016 for failing to calculate and limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from future oil and gas projects.

The agency “did not adequately quantify the climate change impacts of oil and gas leasing”, said Rudolph Contreras, a US district judge in Washington DC, in a ruling late on Tuesday. He added that the agency “must consider the cumulative impact of GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions” generated by past, present and future BLM leases across the country.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/20/judge-halts-drilling-climate-change-trump-administration

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Holy mackerl.

Some what familiar with this area the Courts just ruled on. There is going to be a Republican uproar on this. This area was counting on Trump to drill baby drill when Zinke was appointed. There hopes were another Wiliston Basin Boom.

Trump will jump all over this in the coming days.

[Kurt V.]

3. Since this administration has no one to adequately address climate

change, this will be a major delay.

[Duppers]

4. Wow! Thank You!

for Judge Rudolph Contreras!