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ENERGY

Defending our best lands from irresponsible energy development; Pushing cleaner, sustainable energy policies forward.

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Court's rejection of drilling in New Mexico's Otero Mesa may be heard across the West

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April 30, 2009 - Our victory on New Mexico's Otero Mesa this week took a turn for the pithy in the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision rejecting the Bureau of Land Management's drilling scheme for the mesa. If you're not familiar with Otero Mesa, it occupies a blank spot on the map between Las Cruces and Carlsbad, and, at 1.2 million acres, it's the largest untouched Chihuahuan Desert grassland found anywhere in the United States. more

The dirtiest fuel in the world

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April 22, 2009 - We’ve been down this road before. When Exxon terminated the Colony Oil Shale Project in 1982, Americans living around the Piceance Basin near Parachute Creek, Colorado began referring to that day as Black Sunday due to the disastrous effects it had on their communities and livelihoods. more

Court orders withdrawal of Arctic off-shore energy leases

April 17, 2009 - In a victory for America’s Arctic, a federal court today issued an opinion requiring that the U.S. Department of the Interior withdraw and reconsider the Bush Administration’s 2007 to 2012 oil and gas lease sale program for the outer continental shelf. The court upheld the claim that the environmental sensitivity rankings in the lease sale program are irrational, and thus required that the lease sale program be “vacated” for reconsideration. more

Salazar arrives in Alaska for off-shore drilling hearing

April 14, 2009 - Today is a big day in Anchorage. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is in town to gather input to inform his agency’s decisions about opening the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to energy development. Anchorage is home base to many major oil companies that operate on Alaska’s North Slope, so we expect a big turnout from both pro-development interests as well as those who are concerned about the environmental impacts of oil development in Alaska’s pristine waters. more