Approving an 80-million-acre oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico will exacerbate climate change and harm public health, environment, and natural resources, a coalition of states said in an amicus brief.
The states, which include Washington, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and six others, said that they have a substantial interest in ensuring that federal agencies fully comply with their obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act instead of completing inadequate analyses of climate impacts as they allegedly did by approving the sale, known as Lease Sale 257.
“Climate change has devastating and increasing impacts on ...