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The U.S. Forest Service has rejected challenges to the Uinta Basin Railway, saying the project is in the public interest even as it predicts the oil railway could increase climate pollution in the U.S. by nearly 1 percent.

The recent Forest Service action directs the Ashley National Forest in Utah to approve a right-of-way for the proposed railway to go through protected roadless lands. Once the right-of-way is issued, railway construction could begin next year.

The Uinta Basin Railway is expected to quadruple oil production in Utah's Uinta Basin by linking its oil fields to national rail networks. Most of the crude will travel through the Colorado Rockies for 200 mi. to Gulf Coast refineries.

The railway will spur an increase of up to 350,000 barrels a day, amounting to up to 53 million tons of annual carbon pollution — as much or more than what's produced by the nation's three largest power plants. Sending tens of millions of barrels of crude oil each year from Utah to the Houston area for refining would be equivalent to adding a new refinery to the region, which already exceeds national pollution standards.

Most of the railway through Ashley National Forest — 12 mi. with plans for five bridges and three tunnels — would be on public lands protected by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The oil trains would increase the risk of fires and oil spills along the route through Colorado, including the vulnerable Colorado River corridor.

Some, however, are opposed to the ruling.

"This decision allows for pollutive activities to expand into an area that's protecting an ecosystem critical to public and environmental health," said Carly Ferro, Utah Sierra Club director. "It is an egregious decision that exacerbates climate change instead of addressing the impacts we're feeling right here at home. We will stay resilient in the face of the increasingly devastating consequences of the climate and extinction crises by fighting this project."

The Forest Service's action comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court limited the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate power plant pollution.

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