As the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducts public meetings to discuss the Department of Interior's proposed Public Lands Rule, a diverse coalition is advocating for an end to federal fossil fuel leasing. In Albuquerque, New Mexicans gathered at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center with a banner reading “Phase Out Federal Fossil Fuels: Biden Keep Your Promise on Public Lands and Waters.” The demonstration highlighted concerns over fossil fuel extraction on public and ancestral tribal lands.

The proposed rule aims to place conservation on equal footing with other land uses like drilling and mining but does not address ongoing fossil fuel activities. Soni Grant from the Center for Biological Diversity stated, “Each new acre sacrificed to fossil fuels is a failure of Biden’s climate leadership that promises more heat, drought, fires and floods for New Mexico.”

Recently, over fifty advocates delivered a letter signed by 272 groups urging BLM to halt plans for auctioning more public lands for fracking. Miya King-Flaherty from the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter emphasized, “Despite our continued protests, the Bureau of Land Management seems poised to prioritize oil and gas above all other uses of public lands.”

Federal data shows that New Mexico has been central to federal fossil fuel expansion. More than half of the 6,430 oil and gas permits approved by the Biden administration in its first two years were in New Mexico’s Permian Basin. Kayley Shoup from Citizens Caring for the Future expressed concern about environmental health impacts, stating, “I fear we have no idea just how contaminated our water, land and therefore our bodies may be by these highly toxic and health harming fracking chemicals.”

Julia Bernal from Pueblo Action Alliance noted the cultural significance of affected lands for Indigenous nations in New Mexico. She said it is crucial that Indigenous knowledge informs land management decisions.

Advocates argue that BLM should incorporate plans to stop leasing public and ancestral lands for extraction into their proposed rule. Rebecca Sobel from WildEarth Guardians remarked, “This rule is an opportunity to right the wrongs of the federal leasing program... Every new well drilled is another nail in the coffin for communities who cannot afford to wait.”