Last February, environmental activist Terry Tempest Williams used her credit card to buy leasing rights to 1,120 acres of federal public lands near her home with an energy plan of #KeepitintheGround. Months later, the feds have still not figured out how to respond, whether to give her these leases because her actions are unprecedented.
This is not like the case of Tim DeChristopher, who protested a similar auction in 2008 where he bid prices up to almost $1.8 million with no intention to pay.
Williams was one of the activists protesting leasing public lands to oil and gas companies at the February auction by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). There were different lines for entering the auction, one apparently for protesters and another for bidders. She ended up in the line for people registering as bidders. So, Williams became Bidder #19 and sat in the bidding section while a separate space was provided for the protesters.
A BLM agent then tried to intimidate her:
As people filed in, a B.L.M. agent approached me and asked, “Are you aware that if you have misrepresented yourself as a legitimate bidder with an energy company you will be prosecuted and you could go to prison?”
His tone moved from inquiry to intimidation to harassment. “I am asking you, are you aware … ”
…“As an American citizen,” I told the agent, “I have a right to be here and witness this auction and decide if I am going to bid or not on these leases on our public lands, correct?”
“I am saying, if you choose to misrepresent yourself … ”
“But I have this right … ”
“What energy do you plan to develop?”
“You can’t define energy for us. Our energy development is fueling a movement to keep it in the ground.”
“You will be prosecuted if … ”
When the auction was finishing up, it was announced that unsold parcels could be leased "over the counter" at the BLM office. Williams and her husband decided to check this out for leases in their county.
They bought leasing rights to 1,120 acres of federal public lands for $1680, or the unbelievably low price of just $1.50 per acre, saving 50 cents on the minimum $2 an acre bid. As Williams stated: "These are America's public lands that are being sold for less than a cup of coffee." Heck, Grumpy Cat Stickers cost $1.99.
This ridiculously low bid is fairly common. "[I]n the first quarter of 2015, 25 percent of the federal leases sold in seven western states were sold for $2 per acre, the minimum bid."
Just think about the corporate welfare for all the years that oil and gas companies lease public lands for peanuts while the companies make millions.
The BLM does not know how to respond. Last February, the BLM recognized her legal right to lease the land: "'It’s a little bit novel, but I think she has every right to do that,” said Kent Hoffman, deputy director of the Utah branch of the Bureau of Land Management."
Last February, BLM spokesman Ryan Sutherland stated that the "agency will likely announce winners of those bids on Thursday," but the BLM months later still does not know how to respond because, "experts say, there's no clear precedent for the Bureau of Land Management to follow, because no one else has ever bid for oil and gas leases with the explicit intention not to drill."
Williams paid for the lease and created an energy company, and she has an energy plan: #KeepitintheGround. She and her husband created an energy company, Tempest Exploration Company, LLC, to manage this lease and future leases with the goal of "scientific and educational exploration additional energy sources might be developed from these lands."
Last month, the Utah BLM office stated it is "seeking to clarify Ms. Williams' intent to exercise reasonable diligence in developing and producing the oil and gas leases she has offered to purchase." BLM might deny her lease bids based on a clause in its lease agreements requiring buyers to "exercise reasonable diligence in developing and producing" oil and gas. However, this reasonable diligence clause is not required by the laws and regulations.
Moreover, oil and gas companies often buy leases with no intention of drilling now, preferring to sit on the land until the market improves, as is their right: "Companies can generally hold onto leases for up to 10 years without producing oil and gas, as long as they pay annual fees."
The BLM remains unsure how to respond because Williams opened a new activism door for our #KeepitintheGround movement. If her lease is approved, as it should be, then her company can work on creating a new model for leasing of our public federal lands. Williams also plans to acquire more leases in the future for their company.
I'm sure she won't be the only one. Her activism has shed light on the incredibly cheap prices for leasing federal public lands. Environmental organizations and individuals will be able to come up with under $2,000 for keeping oil and gas companies off over 1,000 acres of federal public lands. Her activism also shed light on complying with the law to oppose the law. From what experts have stated, it sounds like the BLM will have to adopt new regulations to prevent the public from buying leases for lands that the oil and gas companies nominated to the BLM for leasing. And those regulations should be subject to the public comment process.
So, cheers to Williams for opening the door to a new front of #KeepitintheGround.
Amanda Starbuck, climate and energy program director at Rainforest Action Network: “Terry Tempest Williams is one of the West's most passionate and eloquent voices for wildness and the sublime importance of unspoiled open spaces. Today, she has taken a powerful stand for all of us by helping to expose the broken and outdated system of leasing our public lands to dirty energy companies for pennies on the dollar. Rainforest Action Network offers our full support to Terry's bold call to keep fossil fuels in the ground in Utah and beyond.”
Bill McKibben, 350.org co-founder: “The West — and the planet — have no greater champion than Terry Tempest Williams, in her writing, and as today, in her many actions. She’s been decades ahead of the rest of us in her fight for a stable Earth.”