Western Energy Alliance reports that a frivolous lawsuit filed by environmental groups on the basis of climate change compelled Montana Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct redundant environmental analysis, and delay job creation and economic activity in Montana and North and South Dakota. Western Energy Alliance (formerly IPAMS) submitted comments Sept. 13 on the Montana BLM's environmental assessments (EA) for leases delayed by the lawsuit.

"The environmental analysis completed by BLM shows that even a high estimation of all federal oil and gas emissions in Montana and North and South Dakota represents a negligible amount of greenhouse gases – just 0.022% of the U.S. total," says Kathleen Sgamma, Western Energy Alliance's Director of Government Affairs. "BLM was not able to quantify the miniscule fraction of that tiny percentage for the 224 leases in question. Despite that completely insignificant impact, environmental groups compelled BLM to delay job creation, economic activity and American energy development."

"Western Energy Alliance applauds Montana BLM for completing these draft environmental assessments in a timely manner with a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). We hope that BLM can finalize these EAs quickly, release all suspended leases, and put more people in Montana and the Dakotas back to work."

Background

A lawsuit filed in 2009 by the Montana Environmental Information Center, the Oil and Gas Accountability Project of Earthworks, and Wild Earth Guardians challenged 61 oil and gas leases from sales in 2008 because BLM had not conducted climate change analysis. Western Energy Alliance intervened on behalf of BLM. A settlement agreement was signed in March 2010 between BLM and the environmental groups in which BLM agreed to suspend the 61 leases until additional environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was complete.

Subsequently, environmental groups challenged the planned April and June 2010 oil and gas lease sales on the basis of climate change, and BLM was compelled to postpone the sale of 163 leases until the EAs were complete. BLM released the draft EAs on Aug. 12 for public comment, which ends Sept. 13.

Continue reading BLM's analysis.