Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office will consider joining a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s declaration in January of a national energy emergency, he told Newsline in an exclusive interview on Saturday. Last week, the Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management invoked the emergency declaration to complete an accelerated environmental review of a permit to expand a loading facility near Price, Utah for oil coming out of the nearby Uinta Basin. … Eagle County and state officials have long opposed increased oil trains along the Colorado River. In a June 27 letter to Jerry Davis, acting Utah state director for the BLM, Weiser wrote that an expedited environmental assessment for the proposed Wildcat right-of-way expansion would be a “violation of applicable laws and regulations” that would block proper public input and “subject Colorado communities to significant economic, environmental, and health and safety risks.”

Other Uinta Basin news:

• The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah): Trump administration fast-tracks oil transport expansion in eastern Utah
• Truthout: Blog: Trump admin quietly accelerates massive crude oil project on Colorado River