ELR Citation: 41 ELR 20261
No(s). s. 6:09-cv-00037, -00414 (D.N.M. Aug 3, 2011)

A district court held that environmental groups lack standing to challenge BLM's approval of two quarterly oil and gas lease sales under the APA, NEPA, FLPMA, and the Mineral Leasing Act. The groups claimed that BLM failed to meaningfully address the issue of climate change in approving the leases, which encompass 68,676 acres of federal public land in New Mexico. But the groups failed to establish that they have suffered an injury-in-fact. They failed to present any reports, articles, or affidavits from experts indicating an actual or imminent threat from climate change to the federal lands where the groups' members live, work, or recreate. With no factual basis upon which to find an actual or imminent environmental threat—other than the members' subjective observations of changes in the New Mexico climate--the groups' alleged injuries are too speculative to constitute an injury-in-fact. Furthermore, they failed to establish a geographical nexus between their members and the public lands that are the subject of BLM's actions. The groups also failed to demonstrate that their members' injuries are "fairly traceable" to the BLM's alleged failure to follow proper procedure. Even assuming full development and production, BLM's approval of the oil and gas leases would amount to only 0.0009% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This does not constitute a "meaningful contribution." Thus, the links in the chain of causation connecting BLM's actions to the alleged harms to New Mexico's environment are too weak to support causation.