Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Climate Hawks contend that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is failing to address serious, avoidable leaks caused by sloppy industry practices
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

Missoula, Montana.Today, the Western Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the MontanaEnvironmental Information Center, Earthworks’ Oil and Gas AccountabilityProject, and WildEarth Guardians (“Climate Hawks”) filed a legal challenge infederal court against the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to lift asuspension on 25,329 acres of onshore oil and gas leases. These leases had beensuspended in accord with a settlement agreement reached between the Climate Hawks and BLM in March 2010. Thatsettlement agreement required BLM to conduct environmental reviews to determinewhether the leases had properly accounted for climate change impacts. InDecember 2010, BLM completed the environmentalreviews, using them not only to justify the decision to lift the suspensionbut, further, to execute an additional 53 oil and gas leases in Montana totaling 33,257 acres. Unfortunately,these reviews are deeply inadequate.

“Put simply, BLM’s decisions are unacceptable. BLM can’tjust paper over serious problems regarding the waste of oil and gas resourcesto the atmosphere – waste that harms our deteriorating climate, reducesroyalties for cash-strapped government, and reduces the amount of energy thatcould be sold to Montana homes, schools, and businesses,” said Jim Jensen ofthe Montana Environmental Information Center. “BLM must take action to protectMontana’s iconic landscapes, communities, and the important wildlife, businesses,and jobs that depend on them.”

“There’s huge opportunity here. The EPA has identified over 150 proven,cost-effective, off-the-shelf technologies and practices to prevent methanepollution from oil and gas development,” said Jeremy Nichols, director of WildEarthGuardians’ climate and energy program. “But BLM is executing the same leasesit’s been executing for decades – leases whose terms and conditions have provenincapable of harnessing these technologies and practices to prevent seriousleaks in the production of oil and gas resources. It’s time for BLM to changeits oil and gas leases in order to promote new technologies, reduce waste, and accountfor climate change.”

These opportunities are very real when it comes to BLMmanagement of oil and gas resources. The Government Accountability Officerecently determined that BLM had underestimatedthe amount of natural gas wasted in oil and gas production. GAO further foundthat BLM’s policies to prevent waste are plagued by inconsistentimplementation, and that these policies are severely outdated and do notaccount for technological advances. GAO also emphasized BLM’s lostopportunities, finding that at least 40% of natural gas leaked from onshore oiland gas production could be captured with currently available controltechnologies, increasing federal royalty payments by about $23 million annuallyand even more if natural gas prices rebound. Such action by BLM would, as GAOfound, eliminate 16.5 MMTCO2e of greenhouse gas emissions, an amount equivalentto the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 4coal-fired power plants.

The methane reductionopportunities for BLM-managed oil and gas resources may, however, be fargreater than GAO calculated. EPA has revisedits national estimate of GHG emissions from the oil and gas sector upwards from201.8million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (“MMTCO2e”) to 317 MMTCO2e. Of this total revised amount, methane pollution accountsfor 288.6MMTCO2e, equivalent to the greenhouse gasesemitted by 75coal-fired power plants.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas105times as strong as carbon dioxide over a 20-year time period, and 33 times asstrong as carbon dioxide over a 100-year time period. Yet when responsibly produced, methane is also an energy source– i.e., natural gas – and potential ‘bridge fuel’ to assist our transition awayfrom dirty energy and towards clean, renewable energy, such as from the windand sun. When methane is wasted to the atmosphere, it therefore contributes toclimate change, undermines natural gas’ potential advantages, reduces oil andgas royalties to cash-strapped governments, and produces less energy.

Scaled nationally, eliminating40% of the oil and gas sector’s methane emissions, as GAO indicated wasfeasible in the production subsector, would eliminate the greenhouse gaspollution emitted by 30 coal-fired power plants. Targeting action to reduce methaneemissions from oil and gas would therefore promote significant, win-winsolutions for our intertwined climate and energy problems.

“We’re conveying a common-sense idea: if you’re going todevelop oil and natural gas, do it right!” said Gwen Lachelt, the Director ofEarthwork’s Oil & Gas Accountability Project. “Where it’s appropriate tolease our public oil and natural gas resources, those leases should be subjectto the best available technologies and practices to reduce climate pollutionand provide a host of other public benefits. BLM just hasn’t kept this ideafront-and-center.”

“With Congress captured by parochial interests and unable toexercise meaningful leadership on climate and energy policy, it falls tocitizens to step into the breach,” said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, the ClimateHawks’ attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center. “This lawsuit isdesigned to spark real action by BLM to ensure responsible oil and gasdevelopment. If we can get BLM to take real action in Montana, that action willbenefit the whole country.”