Groups like the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club argue in their suit that the permitting violated the Clean Air Act and National Environmental Policy Act, among others. They claim that the San Joaquin Valley is one of the most polluted in the nation, with oil and gas extraction as a major contributor.

Yesterday morning, the White House announced its nomination to head the nation’s largest land-management agency: Kathleen Sgamma, perhaps the most notoriously slippery lobbyist of the famously dishonest oil industry.