Fracking and oil exploration on Nevada’s public lands endangers water, wildlife

It is clear that your editorial board feels strongly about the Center for Biological Diversity’s campaign to protect the waters and wildlife of Nevada from oil drilling and fracking (Dec. 17 editorial). I appreciate your interest in this important topic for Nevada’s future, even if you’ve got the facts wrong.

President Barack Obama oversaw the largest expansion of oil and gas leasing in Nevada’s history, putting 3.2 million acres of public lands up for auction for drilling and fracking from 2009-2016. While the Trump administration has dramatically accelerated this process, it’s clear that the fossil fuel industry has sunk its talons into both parties.

As of 2016, more than 1.1 million acres of Nevada is under active lease to oil companies. If drilled out, development at this scale significantly threatens our waters and wildlife. If you need proof of these dangers, speak to folks in Sublette County, Wyo., where mule deer herds have fallen more than 40 percent due to widespread habitat loss from oil drilling. In North Dakota, frequent spills of fracking fluids have contaminated groundwater. Or head over to the Uintah Basin of Utah, a rural area where the air quality is now worse than Los Angeles due to toxic emissions from oil and gas production.

While I disagree with the editorial, I want to acknowledge that your newspaper consistently provides thorough and fair coverage of environmental issues. I appreciate this dedication to robust journalism, even as the editorial board appears to disregard the risks of fracking.