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In the News: High Country News August 26, 2026

Arctic drilling in Alaska won’t get environmental review in new proposal

Jeremy Lieb, Attorney, Alaska Office: “Drilling and seismic exploration for oil and gas in the Arctic are large-scale, industrial activities that cause significant, lasting negative impacts to the environment and nearby communities.”
In the News: E&E News August 25, 2026

On Louisiana LNG Terminal

Nathan Matthews, Attorney: “FERC acknowledges the harm it’s causing by approving the massive CP2 LNG terminal and gas pipeline, but FERC approved the project anyway. These agencies must go back to the drawing board to do their jobs and properly serve the public interest.”
In the News: E&E News August 24, 2026

Trump’s offshore drilling revival survives early court challenge

George Torgun, Attorney, Oceans Program: “We continue to maintain that President Trump’s attempt to open withdrawn areas for oil leasing is unlawful, and we intend to pursue those claims if and when any offshore activities are on the horizon.”
In the News: KOSU August 13, 2026

Federal judge vacates illegal federal approvals for fracking on Pawnee trust land in Oklahoma

Michael Freeman, Attorney, Rocky Mountain Office: “The federal government made a lot of mistakes in approving these wells. But it’s really good to see the court upholding the law and requiring the Interior Department to actually involve the Pawnee Nation and other tribal tribal members when it approves oil and…
Winter at the Roan Plateau in Colorado.
(Photo courtesy of SkyTruth)
Press Release August 12, 2026

BLM Moves Forward With Proposed Oil and Gas Leasing on the Iconic Roan Plateau in Western Colorado

Release of Environmental Assessment begins 30-day public comment period
In the News: The Washington Post July 9, 2026

Government considers unusual site for launching space missions

Steve Mashuda, Managing Attorney, Oceans Program: “Letting the oil-and-gas industry off the hook so billionaires can launch rockets and spew more toxics into our public waters is a massive insult to Gulf communities and poses a new threat to vulnerable marine life.”
The 19 million acres of tundra, rivers and mountains of the Arctic Refuge shelter migratory birds from all 50 states and six continents each summer. To the Gwich'in people of northeast Alaska, this is sacred ground. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Update June 5, 2026

Big Oil Stays Away from the Arctic Refuge, But the Fight Isn’t Over

The Trump administration tried to sell off the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to Big Oil with a lease sale on June 5.
Polar bears on the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Florian Schulz / protectthearctic.org)
Press Release June 5, 2026

Lease Sale Seeks to Transform Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into a Fossil Fuel Industrial Zone

All major oil companies refused to bid; one small oil company and a state of Alaska-sponsored corporation snapped up five leases in a rush to exploit the Refuge’s Coastal Plain
In the News: RE:PUBLIC May 18, 2026

The Plan to Rubber-Stamp Arctic Drilling

Erik Grafe, Managing Attorney, Alaska Office: “The Western Arctic is the place that has the most industry interest, and the administration is going all out.”
Pygmy rabbits depend on large areas of mature sagebrush to protect them from predators and for the majority of their diet. (H. Ulmschneider / BLM and R. Dixon / Idaho Dept. of Fish & Game)
Press Release May 13, 2026

Conservation Groups Sue Trump Administration to Protect World’s Smallest Bunnies

Fish and Wildlife Service failed to make required listing determination for pygmy rabbit
document May 13, 2026

Pygmy Rabbit Complaint

Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help secure Endangered Species Act protections for the pygmy rabbit – the world’s smallest rabbit species.
In the News: Houston Chronicle May 7, 2026

Deepwater Horizon poisoned the Gulf. If the Trump administration gets its way, it could happen again. | Opinion

“If Kaskida goes wrong, it won’t be BP that pays the price. In ignoring the recent past, the White House is gambling with all of our futures.”
JJ Waters stands in the surf along the shore near her home in Pensacola Beach, Florida. (Gregg Pachkowski for Earthjustice)
Article April 23, 2026

Trump’s Ocean Drilling Agenda Risks Another Disaster for Gulf Communities — We’re Suing

16 years after the worst marine oil spill in U.S. history, we are going to court to stop another risky BP project.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
(Hillebrand / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Press Release April 20, 2026

Trump Administration Offers Vast Tracts within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Big Oil Drilling

Today’s lease sale notice sets into motion this administration’s radical agenda to industrialize the Refuge to benefit oil companies – not the American people
<strong>Drill leases are moving to deeper, riskier waters in the Gulf of Mexico.</strong> Data sources: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, <a href="https://www.data.boem.gov/Leasing/OffshoreStatsbyWD/Default.aspx" class="a_color--black">Offshore Statistics by Water Depth</a>, 2/27/2026. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030142151201141X" class="a_color--black">Impact of water depth on safety</a>, Muehlenbachs et. al., Energy Policy, Vol. 55, 2013. (Casey Chin / Earthjustice)
feature April 20, 2026

Why BP’s Kaskida Project Is a Recipe for (Yet Another) Disaster

The offshore oil drilling project would push into riskier, deeper waters than the infamous Deepwater Horizon rig.
Dark clouds of smoke and fire emerge as oil burns during a controlled fire in the Gulf of Mexico in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Stumberg / U.S. Navy)
Press Release April 20, 2026

Lawsuit Targets Trump Administration Approval of BP’s New Ultra-Deepwater Drilling Project in the Gulf of Mexico, 16 Years After Deepwater Horizon

BP’s "Kaskida" proposal fell dramatically short of legal and regulatory requirements
document April 20, 2026

Complaint: Lawsuit Targets Trump Administration Approval of BP’s New Ultra-Deepwater Drilling Project in the Gulf

BP’s "Kaskida" proposal fell dramatically short of legal and regulatory requirements
A controlled burn of oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill sends towers of fire hundreds of feet into the air over the Gulf of Mexico on June 9, 2010. (PO1 John Masson / U.S. Coast Guard)
Update April 20, 2026

We’re Suing Over BP’s New Gulf Drilling Project, 16 Years After the Company’s Deepwater Horizon Disaster

The government greenlit BP’s proposal for a new ultra-deepwater drilling project in the Gulf, despite significant red flags.