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In July, when President Trump illegally decimated Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, SUWA said we would fight his actions in every way we can, using every tool in our toolbox, for as long as necessary. I’m writing today with an important update on that fight.

This morning we sued President Trump in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, to overturn his illegal reductions of the national monuments and see them fully restored. We jointly filed litigation alongside our longtime partners the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Earthjustice (the latter is representing several other conservation groups). We have asked the court to reopen our previous lawsuit against President Trump’s 2017 monument rollbacks (which was put on hold following President Biden’s restorations) and have updated the case to challenge both sets of illegal proclamations.

We expect Tribal Nations to file their own litigation against Trump’s unlawful actions soon, and we’re honored to stand alongside them. SUWA continues to work closely with the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalitions, which have spoken in opposition to the reductions. Two additional coalitions of monument supporters also filed to reopen their litigation defending the monuments.

Our goal is full and complete restoration of both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Today was an important step, but the results could be slow to unfold. In the meantime, SUWA will be there to defend the ground. We will track—and fight back against—mining claims, oil and gas leases, off-road vehicle trail proposals, and any other actions that could damage the monuments. We’re already harnessing the national outrage over Trump’s actions and translating that into political momentum to advance America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, which would protect much of the land included in the monuments as wilderness.

Every day, we’re activating our members and activists in Utah and across the nation to step up and Protect Wild Utah; thank you for stepping up, time and time again. We’ll continue to provide opportunities to do so. If you’re able, please consider a donation to our work.

Stay tuned for more updates—good, bad, and otherwise—on the national monuments.

Thanks for all you do!

The post Our Next Step to Defend the National Monuments appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

The federal government has announced it will extend the current holiday on the federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel for another 4 months, until January 31, 2027. New research from the Centre for Future Work confirms that extension will not solve the underlying problem of oil-fueled inflation that is hurting all Canadians, not just drivers.

The tax holiday first came into effect on April 20, and was originally set to end on Labour Day. It was intended to offset some of the impact of rising oil prices (resulting from the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz) on Canadian consumers.

While the tax holiday may be appreciated by drivers, it has not addressed the underlying inflationary shock arising from this latest global oil price shock. In fact, Canadian gasoline and diesel prices are higher now than they were before the tax holiday came into effect (and have been higher through most of the 18 weeks since it began). The full value of the tax holiday (to fuel consumers) has thus been more than offset by continued increases in the cost of petroleum products.

New national income data released last week by Statistics Canada confirms Canadian consumers are paying billions of dollars extra for petroleum products despite the cushion from the excise tax holiday. There are also signs that the price shock is spreading into other products beyond petroleum, including air travel, other transportation, and food. This raises the spectre of another spike in broader inflation, sparked by petroleum prices. Statistics Canada data also confirms the petroleum industry in Canada has received record profits as a result of the current oil price shock.

The Centre for Future Work has published a new briefing paper analyzing the latest Statistics Canada data on consumer costs, average prices, and petroleum profits. Highlights include:

• There was a large increase in consumer expenses for petroleum products, despite the tax holiday. This includes $3 billion in extra consumer costs for motor vehicle fuels in just three months April through June).
• There is a growing gap (called the ‘crack spread’) between prices of gasoline and diesel, and underlying prices for crude oil. This has exacerbated the impact of the oil price shock on Canadian consumers.
• There are some early signs of spillover from higher petroleum prices into other prices, and hence into broader inflation – enhancing the risk of future interest rate increases.
• The price shock has produced a dramatic increase in profitability for the Canadian petroleum industry, a direct result of the extra costs paid by consumers. Combined after-tax profit in the upstream and downstream sectors reached $23 billion in the second-quarter, more than double their profits in the first quarter.
• But just 5% of additional profits, and 2% of additional revenues, have been reinvested by the industry in new capital spending.

The paper concludes with several policy recommendations regarding how Canada can better protect itself against repeated cycles of oil-fired inflation, affordability crises, and higher interest rates.

Please see the full briefing paper, Another Band-aid: Extending Gas Tax Holiday Won’t Fix Fossil Fuel Inflation, by Jim Stanford.

The post Extending Gas Tax Holiday Won’t Fix Fossil Fuel Inflation appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

Diamondback Energy's acquisition of Endeavor Energy Resources will create the region's third largest energy producer.

The impact of the energy industry on Texas' economy shattered records, but that performance is not guaranteed to continue

The Texas power grid operator will add nearly $119 million to its annual budget.

The EPA last year announced aerial surveillance of “super-emitters.”

The all-Republican court narrowly found that the nonprofit corporation qualifies for sovereign immunity.

The energy firm leader's $37.8M salary is 366 times median employee pay.

The measure is the first in a series of GOP proposals aimed at “unleashing American energy production.''

The U.S. Department of Energy granted permission for power plants to release more pollution than is normally allowed — if grid conditions worsen

Texans will be bailing out energy providers haurt by the winter storm for decades.

 The proposed offshore terminal is one of four projects intended to expand oil export capacity.

The Texas Utility Help program has been reopened for low-income Texans to apply. 

In Texas' oil and gas fields, technology to curtail methane "just doesn’t work," environmentalists say.

An analysis by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission indicates that the grid would not hold up well under extreme winter weather conditions. 

Tapping the reserve is among the few things a president can do to try to control inflation.

The leak sent blobs of crude ashore in surf-friendly Huntington Beach and other coastal communities. 

The collapse of the company marked the end of the decade's economic optimism and growth.