On this historic day, we already have an environmental victory to celebrate. As I wrote about earlier, the now previous (yea!) Bush Administration tried to sell over 100,000 acres of pristine land to oil and gas interests. However, a federal judge ruled against the Administration to block this sale. He said that “the development of energy resources…is far outweighed by the public interest in avoiding irreparable damage to public lands and the environment.”

Thanks to everyone who supported the Natural Resources Defense Council’s efforts to stop this land grab. The case will be heard later this year but in the interim, the government cannot cash the checks it was given by oil and gas companies for this land. Stay tuned for more details.