BLM: Uh, what global warming?

This land is your land -- "you" meaning, you, the oil prospector: If you thought the Nevada desert was just good for gold, sagebrush and burying mobsters, you're forgetting something: oil! Well, sort of. Nevada has produced about 49 million barrels of oil since 1954. But in recent years, production has dwindled to about 400,000 barrels annually.

And you can be part of the magic! Indeed. The Bureau of Land Management occasionally holds auctions in which it leases public land for oil and gas exploration. Bidding usually starts at $2 an acre. But it's not like the BLM just hands any old piece of land to wannabe prospectors. It studies the land first for possible environmental impacts before putting it up on the auction block.

Which is where the problem lies: The BLM is studying 1.7 million acres in Lander and Nye counties for possible oil and gas leases. As part of its environmental assessment, it recently sought public input on the environmental implications of opening this land to prospectors.

And boy did the BLM ever get a mouthful: The Center of Biological Diversity blasted the BLM April 28, submitting comments that criticized the BLM for not including in its environmental assessment the latest 800-pound eco-gorilla: The effects that promoting oil and gas production and consumption would have on global warming. "We have Bush proposing to open 1.7 million acres to oil and gas, with exactly zero analysis or consideration of the climate impacts of that action," says Paul Spitler, the public lands director of the Center for Biological Diversity. In its comment letter, the center charges that the BLM's failure to consider global warming violates the National Environmental Policy Act.

You mean that slippery, hard-to-measure global warming thing? Doug Furtado, field manager for the BLM's Mount Lewis, says the federal agency has a different interpretation of the law. "We're not required right now by NEPA to address global warming as a critical element [in environmental assessments]." The Center for Biological Diversity is asking too much too soon, Furtado says. How could the BLM measure the impact of oil and gas production when drills won't break the ground for years?

Do-over! That's what the center is calling for. "We want the BLM to withdraw its faulty environmental document and start fresh with a new document that articulates to the public the consequences of proceeding," says Spitler. And if not? He suggests the center might do some exploring of its own -- exploring a lawsuit.

ANDREW KIRALY » akiraly@lvcitylife.com