US Court Halt On Fracking Deals Blow To Trump's Anti-Environmental Agenda - Advocacy Group

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2019) A US court decision to reject fracking leases in the state of Wyoming sets a strong precedent for protecting the environmental and strikes a blow to the Trump administration's anti-climate agenda, Physicians for Social Responsibility said in a press release.

On Tuesday, according to court documents, Federal district court judge Rudolph Contreras said drilling leases for fracking in Wyoming were rejected because the US Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not "adequately quantify the climate change impacts of oil and gas leasing."

"While the ruling applies to Wyoming, the precedent implicates oil and gas leases on public lands across the American West and is a major rebuke to the Trump administration's anti-environment, anti-climate agenda," the release said on Wednesday.

Physicians for Social Responsibility said the court ordered a halt to drilling on more than 300,000 acres in Wyoming, representing "a landmark victory for climate and health."

The lawsuit, filed by Physicians for Social Responsibility and WildEarth, challenged the Interior Department including industry organizations with interests in the leases like Western Energy Alliance, Petroleum Association of Wyoming, and the American Petroleum Association of Wyoming, the court filing said.

The case specifically addresses five BLM oil and gas leases of federal land in Wyoming that occurred between May 2015 and August 2016, according to court documents.