The Biden administration is proposing selling new oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska in a move likely to anger climate activists pushing to see a domestic ramp down for fossil fuels.
The Interior Department is proposing as many as 11 lease sales over the next five years, according to draft plan made public Friday. They include 10 in the Gulf of Mexico and one in the Cook Inlet off the Alaskan coast. The plan also includes an option to conduct no lease sales. Similar to the previous drilling plan, the proposal bars new leases off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
“From Day One, President Biden and I have made clear our commitment to transition to a clean energy economy,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today, we put forward an opportunity for the American people to consider and provide input on the future of offshore oil and gas leasing.”
The proposal is only an initial step in the process, with several months of public comment and other reviews before it could be finalised. Under federal law, auctions of offshore oil and gas drilling rights can only be held under the formal five-year plans. The current five-year plan expired Thursday.
President Joe Biden vowed on the campaign trail to block new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters, and once in the White House, he halted lease sales so Interior Department officials could scrutinise their environmental impacts. A Louisiana-based judge last year tossed out that leasing pause, and the Interior Department resumed selling onshore oil and gas leases this week.
A lot has changed since the campaign trail. The administration has implored oil companies to produce more amid soaring gasoline prices ahead of the midterm elections.
Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat whose vote will be needed to pass Biden’s economic package, has also pressured the White House to allow more lease sales, complaining that the Biden administration is “blocking increased energy production at home” while encouraging more oil flows from Venezuela and Opec producers.
Environmental groups and a cadre of other Democratic lawmakers have implored the administration not to include any new leases in its plan, arguing doing so would run counter to the administration’s climate and environmental goals.
“We urge you to protect our coastal communities, economies, ecosystems and climate by including no new leasing across all planning areas in any proposed or final five-year OCS oil and gas leasing program,” 10 Democratic senators including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote in a letter to the Interior Department. “History shows us that it is not a question of if an oil spill occurs, but when.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Biden proposes offshore drilling leases in blow to activists
Image: Bloomberg
The Biden administration is proposing selling new oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska in a move likely to anger climate activists pushing to see a domestic ramp down for fossil fuels.
The Interior Department is proposing as many as 11 lease sales over the next five years, according to draft plan made public Friday. They include 10 in the Gulf of Mexico and one in the Cook Inlet off the Alaskan coast. The plan also includes an option to conduct no lease sales. Similar to the previous drilling plan, the proposal bars new leases off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
“From Day One, President Biden and I have made clear our commitment to transition to a clean energy economy,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today, we put forward an opportunity for the American people to consider and provide input on the future of offshore oil and gas leasing.”
The proposal is only an initial step in the process, with several months of public comment and other reviews before it could be finalised. Under federal law, auctions of offshore oil and gas drilling rights can only be held under the formal five-year plans. The current five-year plan expired Thursday.
President Joe Biden vowed on the campaign trail to block new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters, and once in the White House, he halted lease sales so Interior Department officials could scrutinise their environmental impacts. A Louisiana-based judge last year tossed out that leasing pause, and the Interior Department resumed selling onshore oil and gas leases this week.
A lot has changed since the campaign trail. The administration has implored oil companies to produce more amid soaring gasoline prices ahead of the midterm elections.
Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat whose vote will be needed to pass Biden’s economic package, has also pressured the White House to allow more lease sales, complaining that the Biden administration is “blocking increased energy production at home” while encouraging more oil flows from Venezuela and Opec producers.
Environmental groups and a cadre of other Democratic lawmakers have implored the administration not to include any new leases in its plan, arguing doing so would run counter to the administration’s climate and environmental goals.
“We urge you to protect our coastal communities, economies, ecosystems and climate by including no new leasing across all planning areas in any proposed or final five-year OCS oil and gas leasing program,” 10 Democratic senators including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts wrote in a letter to the Interior Department. “History shows us that it is not a question of if an oil spill occurs, but when.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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