Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Brian Morris halted a slew of coal leases in the so-called Powder River Basin (PRB) district of southern Montana and north-central Wyoming. See Western Org. of Resource Councils v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 2018 WL 1456624 (D. Mont.2018). PRB coal, for those in the know, is synonymous with […]
Read moreSocial Cost of Carbon: Friend to Federal Energy Projects?
Jamison Colburn BLM, climate change, coal, oil BLM, Forest Service, mineral leasing act, risk, social cost of carbon
In a starchy article in The Electricity Journal earlier this year, researchers from the University of Wyoming argued that “parties should be prepared to offer substantive comments on the suitability and accuracy of quantitative analyses of the impacts associated with greenhouse gas emissions” from energy development projects on federal land as a result of the […]
Read moreMust BLM Count Livestock Emissions in its NEPA Documents?
Jamison Colburn action agencies, BLM, uncategorized BLM, climate change, livestock GHG emissions, risk
A recent “complaint” served on the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) by the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) argues that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) been shirking its NEPA duties on climate change issues. Is there any merit to the complaint? Unlike the parallel “petition” PEER served on BLM asking that BLM reform […]
Read moreProperly Valuing a No Action Alternative
Jamison Colburn action agencies, climate change, oil BLM, BOEMRE, Center for Sustainable Economy, D.C.Circuit, offshore leasing, oil, option pricing, risk
In a decision last week, the D.C. Circuit rejected the claims of the “Center for Sustainable Economy” against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and its offshore oil/gas leasing program. At issue was a completed EIS done in connection with BOEM’s decision to open new areas of the “outer continental shelf” (OCS) to leasing […]
Read moreDeveloping the National Petroleum Reserve
Jamison Colburn climate change, oil, pipelines BLM, Corps of Engineers, National Petroleum Reserve, oil
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently released a Record of Decision (ROD) in connection with a § 404 permit for a 73 acre wetland fill in northern Alaska. That by itself would make the permit a major federal action potentially causing a “significant” effect on the human environment within the meaning of NEPA § 102(2)(C). But […]
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