Today, the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) submitted 33,059 comments from individual pro-life Christians calling on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to modernize oil and gas leasing on our public lands (Docket ID No. BLM-2023-0005-0001).

This long overdue modernization updates onshore royalty rates for the first time in over 100 years and bonding requirements for the first time in 60 years. These common-sense provisions will advance the responsible stewardship of America’s lands and our precious natural resources and defend the lives and health of children and other vulnerable Americans by reducing emissions of carbon pollution and harmful toxins into our air and water. The proposed rule also ensures oil and gas companies cover the full cost of environmental remediation and that the next generation will not be saddled with despoiled land, water, and air and a billion-dollar price tag for a mess they didn’t make.

More than two-thirds (68 percent) of Western voters believe that the impacts of oil and gas leasing and drilling are a “serious problem.” Ninety-three percent of Western voters believe that oil and gas companies should pay to clean up their own messes – a burden that taxpayers have shouldered for too long. Furthermore, Seventy-one percent of Western voters believe that drilling should only occur on land that has the highest likelihood of producing oil and gas. 

With these comments Pro-life Christians across the country have clearly demonstrated their passion and concern for the preservation of public lands and a safe and clean environment for future generations. EEN plans to continue working to get these provisions finalized and implemented as soon as possible as we fulfill our biblical mandate to love our neighbor and care for creation.