The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently released an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument and Kanab-Escalante Planning Area. We submitted comments explaining why the agency should analyze the impacts of each land management alternative using Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases estimates.
BLM’s preferred alternative places the fewest constraints on mineral leasing and development, and so is the alternative with the greatest potential to increase greenhouse gas emissions. Although the agency quantifies some upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels extracted from the planning area, the EIS does not include a monetized estimate of the climate damages those emissions will produce. We encourage BLM to apply the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases to fully and accurately assess the environmental and public health impacts of each alternative.