San Luis Valley Oil and Gas Leases Yanked

144,000 acres of the northern San Luis Valley of Colorado have been withdrawn from an upcoming oil and gas lease auction, a big win for wildlife, for the climate, and for the folks living the San Luis Valley.

The Bureau of Land Management had originally proposed to lease an unprecedented amount of lands in the Rio Grande National Forest and near Crestone, Colorado, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo range.  Once the leases were sold, oil and gas drillers would have the right to drill these sensitive lands. 

In April, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, the Western Environmental Law Center, the San Luis Valley Ecosystems Council, and many other groups officially protested the lease auction.  Local governments, including Rio Grande County, Saguache County, the town of Del Norte, joined in protesting.

At the heels of the protests, both Senator Ken Salazar and Representative John Salazar jointly called on the Bureau of Land Management calling on them to withdraw the San Luis Valley oil and gas leases.

It's a big win to be sure, and hopefully the San Luis Valley will stay safe from oil and gas drilling.

Clean Air, Clean Air, Clean Air

Here's a recap of where Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has left its mark for clean air in the region:

In response to a petition filed by Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, the CEMEX cement plant in Lyons is facing scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency. The petition calls on the Environmental Protection Agency to require CEMEX to install the best pollution controls on its smokestack. CEMEX claims its spent "millions" to clean up the Lyons cement plant, yet the company hasn't spent a penny on upgrading controls on its smokestack.

Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has taken aim at climate change. Together with a number of local, regional, and national health and environmental groups, we've challenged the Bureau of Land Management's decision to auction hundreds of thousands of acres of Colorado, Montana, and New Mexico for more oil and gas drilling, drilling that will fuel global warming pollution.

And earlier this week, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action challenged a decision by the Forest Service to allow a western Colorado coal mine to vent billions of cubic feet of methane--again  Methane is not only a valuable gas, it's 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. We successfully overturned the same decision last February.

And you heard it from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment first: people are the best air quality monitors.

Denver Post: EPA in Denial

The Denver Post has joined the growing chorus of criticism against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's refusal to let California adopt clean car standards to reduce global warming pollution and safeguard public health.

The EPA's decision is about as contorted as it gets. While finding that global warming pollution is indeed a serious problem, the EPA shot down what would arguably have been a huge step forward toward a solution. While California was the one proposing to adopt clean car standards, if the EPA would have agreed, then 17 other states--including Colorado and New Mexico--also would have adopted the standards. Collectively, the standards would have ensured only the cleanest cars for our roads.

But for now, we're left fighting the EPA and once again taking the Bush Administration to court.

Kudos to the Denver Post for taking a stand for the climate.

AG Suthers: the Ball's in Ritter's Court

Colorado is the only state not joining in a lawsuit to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's refusal to let states curb greenhouse gas pollution from vehicle tailpipes.

And today, at a University of Denver climate change law symposium, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers pointed the finger at Governor Ritter. In response to a question from Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, Suthers stated that he would join in the fight to overturn the EPA's decision...if Governor Ritter's office asked him to.

Is he punting or telling the truth?

To review, the EPA last December rejected a request by California to adopt more stringent tailpipe emission standards. These same standards have been adopted or proposed for adoption by 17 states, including Colorado. Under the Clean Air Act, states have two choices--either adopt the EPA's tailpipe standards or California's. Because of the EPA's decision, states like Colorado can't curb greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes.

So far, the states of California, Iowa, Florida, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Pennsylvania have all joined in a lawsuit against the EPA.

Colorado is conspicuously absent from this list. And that's confusing, to say the least. Last November, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter called for the adoption of California's clean car standards to help fight climate change.

So do we point the finger at Governor Ritter or Attorney General Suthers for not defending our ability to adopt clean cars?

Maybe it doesn't matter. After all, Rocky Mountain Clean Air has joined the lawsuit to defend Colorado's ability to adopt clean car standards. While the State itself may be missing in action, at least citizens are stepping up to the plate.

Big Wins for Clean Air in the Rockies

In the last week, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action has scored two big wins for clean air.

The first was last week, when the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that the State of Colorado needed to rethink exempting thousands of oil and gas wells from clean air safeguards. The ruling comes in response to a petition from Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action. Under the Clean Air Act, sources of air pollution that are connected and interrelated need to be regulated together, not piecemeal.

Despite this, thousands of oil and gas wells are regulated individually, even though they are connected to larger facilities (like compressor stations) and collectively add up to a significant source of air pollution. The EPA's ruling could mean the advent of stronger clean air safeguards across the entire Rocky Mountain region.

And just yesterday, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action learned that it successfully halted a plan that would have vented billions of cubic feet of methane (also known as natural gas) from a coal mine in western Colorado. Methane is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, not to mention the fact that its enormously wasteful to vent the gas. The amount of methane proposed for venting would have been enough to heat 35,000 homes for 12 years.

Responding to a challenge from Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, the U.S. Forest Service reversed its own decision, ordering its local officials to more closely look at ways to control the methane.

We're hard at work on the frontlines, and it's paying off for our clean air and our climate. Happy Valentine's Day!