February 3rd, 2023: On February 1, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Sierra Club and its allies in a NEPA challenge to oil and gas fracking on public lands in the Greater Chaco region of northwest New Mexico. The Court held that BLM failed to adequately analyze and disclose the climate and public health impacts of nearly 200 applications for permits to drill for oil and gas on public lands in the Chaco area.
With Chaco Canyon at its heart, the Greater Chaco region is a living and ancient cultural landscape, spanning northwest New Mexico, southwest Colorado, southeast Utah, and northeast Arizona. Today, Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the Western Hemisphere. In recent years, the Greater Chaco region has come under increased threat of oil and gas extraction, which has brought drilling, fracking, and industrial development onto public lands and into Diné communities.
“If we want to have clean air to breathe and pass on a livable planet to the next generation, we must end fracking on public lands,” said Miya King-Flaherty, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter’s organizing representative. “It’s way past time for this administration to live up to its promise to honor the Greater Chaco landscape and prioritize climate and environmental justice.”
Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, San Juan Citizens Alliance, WildEarth Guardians, and Western Environmental Law Center partnered with Sierra Club, which was represented by ELP senior attorney Karimah Schoenhut and WELC attorney Kyle Tisdel.