August 31, 2022 |
The State of Wyoming is joining an ongoing legal fight against a coalition of environmental groups that filed two separate lawsuits in June challenging the federal oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming. The sale is the first in the state under President Joe Biden.
Both lawsuits were filed by the radical green groups less than a day after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized its offerings: roughly 170 parcels spanning about 144,000 acres across the West, with the bulk of the prospective leases — 123 parcels and close to 120,000 acres — located in Wyoming. The lawsuits claimed that the BLM’s lease sale violated the National Environmental Police Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
In yesterday’s motion, Wyoming challenged the group’s claims and asked the court to allow it to intervene because of the State’s sovereign and economic interests will be adversely affected.
Governor Mark Gordon said in a statement, “Wyoming is committed to defending her interests and her industries in the courts when they are threatened… It is sad that every lease sale now leads to a challenge, and that NEPA has become little more than a meal ticket for litigious special interest groups.”
The two original lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Wilderness Society is the chief plaintiff in one, and the Dakota Resource Council in the other.
Yesterday’s court filings note that the oil and gas lease sale collected over $13 million in bonus bids, entitling the State to more than $6 million in revenue. If the lawsuits are successful Wyoming will not receive its share of rentals and federal mineral royalties from the leased parcels.
In the second case, Wyoming joined Montana, Oklahoma and Utah to argue it would suffer harm if the suit were successful. In addition to citing its financial interest, Wyoming notes that 123 of the 173 federal parcels challenged in the suit are in Wyoming.
