About four weeks after a federal judge ruled that the Obama
administration violated the law by leasing California public land for
oil development without considering the risks of
fracking, the Bureau of Land Management has postponed all oil and gas lease sales in California for the rest of the fiscal year. The judge’s
ruling
came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological
Diversity and the Sierra Club. It was the first court opinion to find a
federal lease sale invalid for failing to address the risks of
fracking. The BLM
cites sequester-related budget cuts as the reason for the postponement, but lease sales continue in other states. “Whether the BLM admits it or not, the agency knows it
can’t lawfully hold additional lease sales in California without a full
environmental review of the serious risks fracking poses to our air,
water and wildlife,” said Brendan Cummings, senior counsel at the
Center. “The BLM’s decision to cancel planned lease sales in California
for 2013 is a welcome sign that the agency finally recognizes that its
rubber-stamp approach to oil leasing is no longer viable.”...
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