Supreme Court Preserves Victory Over Oil/Gas Development in Utah

earthjustice.org - October 18, 2013 - Doug Pflugh

It is rewarding to successfully wrap-up a case. This can be especially true when our work protects special places, preserving them for future generations. It is a pleasure to be able to point at a map and say, “Those are the places that were saved.”

The U.S. Supreme Court took action last week that did just that—endorsing an earlier conservation victory and ending the long fight over proposed oil and gas development on the doorstep of beloved public lands in the west ...

We are fortunate to find ourselves at such a point of celebration: the U.S. Supreme Court denial of a “petition for certiorari” in the Impact Energy v Salazar (Jewell) litigation closes the door on the efforts of a group of oil and gas companies and three Utah counties to force through 77 federal leases in the heart of Utah’s redrock country. Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park and Dinosaur National Monument and other public lands will remain protected for now ...

Following a court order in 2009, Secretary Salazar scrapped the 77 leases after determining that the Bureau of Land Management had skimped on its environmental analysis and failed to adequately consult with the National Park Service. Industry and the Utah counties pursued litigation to force Secretary Salazar to issue the leases regardless of these shortcomings. We stood with the Secretary in defending the withdrawal.

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