The Sierra Club Wyoming Chapter (SCWC) supports Wyoming's transition from a dirty fuels-based economy to one that both supports our friends and neighbors, yet is based on clean energy, and promotes tourism and other industries that protect our public lands, our air, and our water. SCWC believes that oil and gas, no matter its source (oil shale, tarsands, etc.), particularly on public lands, should be left in the ground.
In May of this year, in Cheyenne, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), allowed industry to bid on 100,000 plus acres of publically owned oil and gas in Wyoming. SCWC members were there to protest the sale. The "climate auction", as the lease sale was dubbed, occurred despite the decline of Wyoming's oil and gas industry and the declaration of bankrupcy by Wyoming's largest oil producer. Connie Wilbert, SCWC Director, said "If we really want to effectively tackle the climate crisis, President Obama needs to halt all new fossil fuel leasing on federal public lands and oceans. The growing national movement to "keep dirty fuels in the ground" clearly shows the public's opposition to continuing to sell off federal coal, oil shale, natural gas, crude oil and tar sands on federal lands and oceans." Federal oil and gas should be the first to be taken off the table to mitigate climate change.
Although the BLM did proceed with the sale in Wyoming, since November 2015, protested sales in Utah, Colorado, Montana, and Washington, D.C. have been postponed. Please write to President Obama and ask him to add to his climate protection legacy by placing a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on public lands.
We also urge you to become a Sierra Club member or renew your membership today, and we invite you to get involved and welcome your donations to support our important work.
For more information on the BLM May 2016 oil and gas lease sale in Cheyenne, please click here.
Protest at the BLM Oil and Gas Lease Sale, Cheyenne, May 2015
