Trump-era oil and gas leases in Montana and the Dakotas could be invalidated, thanks to settlement

Every single time the American Petroleum Institute (API) is mad about something, it’s a great thing for anyone standing up to the oil and gas companies it represents. The latest victory against the API is a settlement that was reached on Tuesday between the Bureau of Land Management and environmental groups like the Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians, and the Sierra Club. The settlement concerns Trump-era leasing decisions pertaining to 113 oil and gas leases in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Under the settlement, those sales, which make up 58,617 acres of public land, will undergo additional National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review to consider all the environmental concerns the Trump administration missed in issuing those leases. The API and the state of Wyoming, where the decision was reached, stand firmly against the move, and both argue that it could financially harm the companies doing business on those public lands, according to the Associated Press. That concern is comical considering all the harm the many companies behind API cause to the planet.