December, 31 2012, 02:51pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ted Zukoski, Earthjustice, (303) 996-9622
Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians, (303) 437-7663
Coal Mine Expansion in Colorado Roadless Forest Likely to Face Challenge
Roadless area next to West Elk Wilderness would be decimated by bulldozing & scraping
DENVER, Colo.
Conservation groups are gearing up to protect a forested roadless area and lynx habitat threatened with destruction by recent federal agency approvals of a coal mine expansion 10 miles east of Paonia, Colorado. The coal lease expansion paves the way for corporate giant Arch Coal to bulldoze 6.5 miles of road and 48 natural gas drilling pads through 1,700 acres--nearly three-square miles--of wild, roadless forest for the company's West Elk mine.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the coal lease expansion last Thursday, a decision that followed an August 2012 Forest Service decision to "consent" to the destructive expansion on the Gunnison National Forest. The roadless area at stake includes forest of aspen and giant spruce, beaver lodges and meadows in an area used by hikers and hunters. The area provides habitat for lynx, a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, as well as elk, black bear, and hawks.
In mid-December, four conservation groups--High Country Citizens' Alliance, WildEarth Guardians, Sierra Club, and Rocky Mountain Wild--filed a notice of intent to sue the Forest Service under the Endangered Species Act for failing to ensure that the mine expansion would not harm lynx. The agency failed to consider that approving the lease expansion will permit Arch Coal to bulldoze additional roads through lynx habitat on other nearby National Forest and private lands.
The groups are also considering filing a formal challenge to the BLM's December 27 decision to approve the lease modifications. Such a challenge would have to be filed with the Department of the Interior's Board of Land Appeals in late January.
"The beautiful forests, ponds, and meadows of the Sunset Roadless Area are a natural wonderland that deserves protection, not destruction at the hands of one of the nation's dirtiest industries," said Ted Zukoski, an attorney with Earthjustice representing conservation groups who have challenged the mine expansion.
"BLM knows that its decision approving bulldozing through a roadless forest is opposed by many who value Colorado's natural beauty, and will likely result in an appeal," Zukoski added.
The BLM and Forest Service decisions to permit the mine expansion could turn the Sunset Roadless Area, which is right next to the scenic West Elk Wilderness, into an industrial zone of well pads and roads, with an average of 16 wells pads--and two miles of road--per square mile. A spaghetti-web of roads and pock-marks of well pads for the existing West Elk mine adjacent to the expansion area can be easily seen on Google maps.
In addition to paving the way for bulldozing in the roadless area, the mine expansion decision allows continued uncontrolled methane pollution from the West Elk coal mine, one of the state's single largest carbon polluters.
Although the West Elk coal mine is underground, safe mining there requires that methane venting wells be drilled above the mine. The West Elk mine spews millions of cubic feet of methane pollution every day. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times more heat trapping ability than carbon dioxide.
Forest Service and EPA data show the amount of methane vented at West Elk could heat a city about the size of Grand Junction. But the Forest Service has refused to require the mine to capture, burn, or reduce any of the mine's methane pollution.
"This mine expansion is a lose-lose-lose proposition," said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Coordinator for WildEarth Guardians. "The public loses their mountain backcountry, loses millions of dollars from wasted methane, and loses because of more coal pollution."
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
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Bernie Sanders Says US Must 'Fundamentally Rethink' Its Foreign Policy
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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday called for a "revolution in American foreign policy" that replaces "greed, militarism, and hypocrisy" with "solidarity, diplomacy, and human rights."
In a lengthy piece published in Foreign Affairs, Sanders (I-Vt.) asserted that "it is long past time to fundamentally reorient American foreign policy," a shift that starts with "acknowledging the failures of the post–World War II bipartisan consensus and charting a new vision that centers human rights, multilateralism, and global solidarity."
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Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee filed a petition Monday with National Labor Relations Board formally requesting an election to join the United Auto Workers, which is campaigning aggressively to organize nonunion plants in the U.S. South and across the country.
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Progressive lawmakers in the House and Senate urged the Federal Reserve on Monday to begin slashing interest rates in the near future, warning that the increasingly tight monetary conditions the central bank has imposed over the past two years risk imperiling strong post-pandemic job and
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In a
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The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 11 times in the last 2 years, keeping working people from being able to get a raise, a mortgage, or car.
Today, @SenSanders, @SenWarren, and House progressives call on the Fed to finally lower interest rates.https://t.co/VvFNPwZ8lS
— Progressive Caucus (@USProgressives) March 18, 2024
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But the Fed is not expected to announce rate cuts following the two-day FOMC meeting that begins on Tuesday. The Associated Pressreported Monday that "Powell and his fellow Fed officials are expected to play it safe when they meet his week, keeping their rate unchanged for a fifth straight time and signaling that they still need further evidence that inflation is returning sustainably to their 2% target."
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