Christian Gerlach, christian.gerlach@sierraclub.org
Las Vegas, NV-- Yesterday, the Sierra Club joined with members of the Western Shoshone Nation and community members to rally and demand the Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management halt their oil and gas lease sales-- one that took place yesterday and upcoming sales through the year-- that target hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in the state for drilling. The November sale originally included over 500,000 acres of land for sale, but the agency downsized the average significantly due to political pressure. More than 400,000 acres of those lands were not auctioned off as planned amid warnings that fracking there could threaten the city of Mesquite’s water supply.
After the event, Christian Gerlach, Organizer with the Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign, released the following statement:
"The movement to stop oil and gas drilling on our public lands is growing. Our pressure on the Trump administration to halt these dangerous sales is resonating, and ringing the alarm about all that’s at risk when public lands are sacrificed for the fossil fuels that lie beneath.
"Stopping fossil fuel extraction on public lands and protecting these places is absolutely critical in fighting the climate crisis and protecting our water supplies across Nevada."
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.