The Center for Biological Diversity and ForestEthics are challenging the US Bureau of Industry and Security for "withholding documents related to its oil-export approval process” that led to a drastic increase in US crude oil exports, going from 44,000 barrels per day in 2009 to 351,000 in 2014.
“President Obama’s secretive approval of crude oil exports hurts our climate and exposes more people and wildlife to fracking pollution,” Jean Su, the Center’s attorney said, as quoted in the release.
According to the watchdogs, “selling US crude abroad undercuts the president’s own goal of cutting greenhouse gas pollution and encourages more dangerous drilling and fracking that spoils our landscapes, threatens our water and harms our communities. ”
Over the past ten years, the United States has risen to become the world’s largest oil producer due to the major fracking boom it is enjoying.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves injecting a mixture of toxic chemicals into the ground at high pressure. The method is heavily criticized for the associated environmental risks and its potential to trigger earthquakes.
