Tag: Earthjustice

An environmental attorney who argued in favor of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule before a federal appeals court says there are only two legal options left for opponents of the Clinton-era rule and backers of state-specific rules like Colorado’s – and both are long-shots.

Colorado Fourth-District Republican US Rep Cory Gardner is filling his campaign coffers for 2012 as he did in 2010 by leaning heavily on oil-and-gas industry donors. He raked in $370,000 in the quarter that just ended. That's the most of any candidate for federal office from Colorado and topped his take in previous quarters by roughly $100,000. One of every ten dollars Gardner brought in last quarter came from oil and gas, and this quarter the percentage is higher, coming in at roughly 12 percent. That notable campaign finance record paired with the high-profile pro-drilling and environmental-regulation-rollback positions he has taken mark out the freshman congressman as an aspiring top-level advocate for oil and gas on the Hill.

The environmental law firm Earthjustice today filed a notice of intent to sue (pdf) the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not adhering to the Clean Air Act and identifying communities endangered by ozone air pollution.

In a petition filed on behalf of 114 state and national groups, the environmental law firm EarthJustice is urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require natural gas drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they use.

The “Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011” sponsored by Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today in a 35-20 vote. Environmental law firm Earthjustice argues that the bill is misleading in name, and would do little more than “turn back the clock on existing clean water safeguards.”

Conservation groups today filed suit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for allegedly illegally approving thousands of oil and gas wells on federal land in western Colorado without conducting proper air-pollution analysis.

The HD Mountains in southern Colorado were reportedly named after an old cattle brand, not the more contemporary “High Definition” television brand. But a plan by BP America and other oil and gas companies to drill natural gas in the low-elevation roadless area has brought into crystal-clear focus the debate over drilling for gas on public lands deemed “roadless” by the Clinton administration in 2001.

Few things get Coloradans as riled up as access to our public lands. The debate tends to rage on numerous fronts, but by far the most contentious battles are fought over off-road vehicle access: where, when, how and when is enough enough? Officials with the Pike-San Isabel National Forest in southern-central Colorado touched off a powder keg of controversy recently when they issued a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) that conservationists say includes more than 500 miles of illegal roads and tracks – or “rogue” trails – formed by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) or motorcycles over the years.

Forty-six members of Congress, including Colorado Democratic Reps. Jared Polis and Diana DeGette, sent a letter to former Colorado senator and current Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Thursday backing the disclosure of secret chemicals used in the controversial natural gas drilling process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

The environmental law firm Earthjustice Tuesday challenged a May court ruling in favor of the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management that...