Gov. Lujan Grisham has line-item vetoed a tax exemption in House Bill 252 that would have effectively forced taxpayers to pay “stripper well” operators’ costs to comply with the state’s methane waste and ozone precursor rules, rules designed to protect the climate and public health.The 29 New Mexico civic and environmental groups who formally urged the governor to veto this unnecessary and unsound tax giveaway today applaud her for holding strong against this proposed special interest handout to low-producing wells. The governor’s veto helps dispel the myth that “stripper wells” are run by str ..read more

Twenty-nine environmental and civic organizations sent a letter to Gov. Lujan Grisham urging her to line-item veto parts of House Bill 252 that would create an oil and gas severance tax exemption for “stripper well properties” for the costs of complying with the state’s 2021 methane waste rule and 2022 ozone precursor rule. If signed into law, this bill would perversely give companies a tax break for costs incurred to protect the public against hazards of these businesses’ own creation. In its analysis, the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee found the exemption could cost the state $17.2 ..read more

A diverse group of over 40 Montana organizations and businesses submitted a petition to the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) today to request that it adopt rules requiring consideration of climate change in its regulation of Montana gas and electric utilities. Montana courts have twice found that the state has an obligation to consider climate change in decision making. This petition asks the PSC to abide by Montanans’ Constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment which includes the right to a stable climate. With broad oversight authority over Montana utilities, the PSC mak ..read more

Job Opening Announcement: Litigation Assistant Reports to: Program Directors Location: Physical WELC office in Taos, NM; Santa Fe, NM; Eugene, OR; or Helena, MT Timeline: Job opening posted February 26, 2024; we will review applications on a rolling basis beginning on March 18, 2024 until the position is filled. Note: Information is available below. Please apply through our ApplicantPro portal. ABOUT THE WESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTERThe Western Environmental Law Center is a leading nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm rooted in the landscapes and communities of the Western U.S ..read more

Career Opportunity: Communications and Marketing Associate Reports to: Communications Director Location: Physical WELC office in Taos, NM; Santa Fe, NM; Helena, MT; or Eugene, OR. Remote options will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Timeline: Job opening posted February 23, 2024; we will review applications on a rolling basis beginning on March 18, 2024, until the position is filled.  ABOUT THE WESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER  The Western Environmental Law Center is a leading nonprofit, public-interest environmental law firm rooted in the landscapes and communities of the West ..read more

Today, 10 conservation groups filed their 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“the Service”) for its failure to list western wolves under the Endangered Species Act. The groups outlined the reasons why the Service’s “not warranted” finding, formally published in today’s Federal Register, ignores obvious threats to the species, runs contrary to the best available science, and relies on flawed population models for its determination. “The Service’s finding seems to give the green light for states hostile to wolves to follow suit with Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming’s a ..read more

A broad range of public interest advocates today applaud New Mexico Senate Pro Tem Mimi Stewart and Sen. Brenda McKenna for introducing SM 8, requesting the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department to study the risks to humans and the environment from proximity to oil and gas facilities (fact sheet here). The memorial asks the department to evaluate how to mitigate those risks by requiring oil and gas companies to locate new wells beyond a minimum distance (“setbacks”) from homes, schools, businesses and the surrounding environment and to recommend legislation addressing setbacks in ..read more

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) announced today that it will not list gray wolves in the western U.S. under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) finding them “not warranted” for federal protection. Today’s decision will allow Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana to continue their widespread killing of these intelligent, family-oriented native wildlife. Conservation groups are looking carefully at today’s notice and evaluating legal options. “A handful of states are standing in the way of wolf recovery nationwide, espousing an outdated, anti-science, eradication mindset,” said Kelly Nokes ..read more

Next week, the New Mexico House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee will consider HB 133 (fact sheet here), a governor-initiated bill crafted with the involvement of climate, environmental, and community groups as well as the oil and gas industry. The Western Environmental Law supports this bill as a positive step forward for New Mexico. HB 133 would provide much needed updates to the 1935 Oil and Gas Act. According to Sidney Hill of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, “[t]he act no longer contains all the tools necessary to oversee the current in ..read more

Two years in the making, the Bureau of Land Management (the Bureau) on Friday began its public scoping period for an amendment to a Trump-era resource management plan (RMP) for a 1.64-million-acre Uncompahgre Field Office “planning area” in southwest Colorado as required by three 2022 legal agreements (ours here). In the process for amending the 20-year plan, the Bureau will consider whether and where to allow oil and gas development, how to minimize harm from drilling to Gunnison sage grouse and big game, and management of lands with wilderness characteristics. The scoping period runs through ..read more