Uinta Basin Railway – “unconscionable greed, denial and a dismissal of reality”

Americans were promised the Biden Administration would prioritize reducing the impacts of climate change by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Despite this understanding, in 2021 the Forest Service approved the construction of the Uinta Basin Railway across public lands. 

The Uinta Basin Railway’s expressed purpose is to increase oil output. And not by a small amount. The railway aims to quadruple output from Utah’s Uinta Basin. 

Utah is not the only state with cause for concern about the oil project. The railway goes through Colorado, whose local governments have pushed back, worried about the increased likelihood of spills and irreversible ecological damage the railway could bring.  

UPHE’s Dr. Brian Moench was quoted in Inside Climate News’ article on the project, “The whole idea of this is just absolutely unconscionable. It’s unconscionable greed, denial and a dismissal of reality.”

The most recent development in the project came earlier this month, when a tax-payer backed bond was approved to fund the project. This essentially means the oil railway is being partially subsidized by the public. The railway does nothing for the public good. It will add to the climate crisis and open communities along its route to unnecessary risks and environmental degradation. 

Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg still has the ability to stop the project. Please contact his office and tell them why this project concerns you, and contradicts the Administration’s goals. 

Read more here.