Environmentalists sue Gulf of Mexico Oil Auction to Stop it

On Tuesday, environmental groups sued the Trump Administration for its decision to proceed with the planned December 10, offshore oil and natural gas lease sale that covered 80 million acres (32 millions hectares) of the Gulf of Mexico.

Why it's Important The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenges a large sale that is aligned with President Donald Trump’s policy of maximising domestic oil and natural gas development. This is just the latest of a series of recent lawsuits over offshore drilling which have resulted in victories for environmentalists.

KEY QUOTES

Irene Gutierrez is the senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. She said that opening 80 million acres of the Gulf would lead to more spills, carbon pollution and damage to coastal communities.

CONTEXT Trump's tax bill, signed by him in July, included 30 sales to be made in the Gulf of Mexico until 2040. The sale on December 10 is the first of those.

The lawsuit claims that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of the Interior Department broke the law when it failed to conduct a specific environmental review for the upcoming leasing sale. The lawsuit also claims that BOEM’s August environmental assessment of oil and natural gas activities in Gulf of America (as Trump refers to it) was inadequate because it failed to adequately consider the impacts of oil spills and risks on endangered Rice’s whales and Gulf communities.

Healthy Gulf, Friends of the Earth Center for Biological Diversity Sierra Club, NRDC and NRDC are among the groups suing.

RESPONSE

A spokesperson for the Interior Department said that the agency doesn't comment on litigation.

What's Next?

The groups ask the court to stop the lease sale until BOEM meets the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. Reporting by Nichola Grroom Editing Rod Nickel

(source: Reuters)