The Biden administration, in a move that went under the radar, reached a settlement with a coalition of environmental groups regarding wildlife protections in offshore oil development. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) agreed to several requested conditions by the coalition, led by the Sierra Club, in a stipulated stay agreement filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. This agreement prompted the coalition to temporarily pause litigation in the case. However, the fossil fuel industry groups strongly criticized the settlement, arguing that it would hinder domestic energy production.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) and EnerGeo Alliance expressed their dissatisfaction with the private settlement agreement between the federal government and environmental activists. They claimed that the restrictions placed on operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico would severely impede America’s energy production in a region known for its low carbon-intensive barrels. The industry groups further contended that the agreement lacked evidence and undermined legitimate conservation efforts, violated the directives of Congress, and harmed the country’s energy independence.
In the settlement, the Biden administration agreed to establish expanded protection areas for the Rice’s whale species, addressing the environmental groups’ concerns about inadequate protection in previous assessments. However, the government asserted that it had no reason to believe that whales would be harmed by oil and gas activities in the newly expanded Gulf of Mexico protection areas.
Additionally, the administration decided to exclude around 11 million acres containing significant oil resources in the Gulf of Mexico from future lease sales. These acres would have been available for lease sales mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act.
The federal government also plans to impose new restrictions on oil and gas vessels, but not on thousands of vessels operating in other industries in the area. Oil and gas vessels will be required to operate at slower speeds, potentially reducing transit windows to less than 40% annually and 25% during the winter, according to the API. These restrictions could ultimately render future lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico economically unviable.
The case originated nearly three years ago when the coalition of environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Turtle Island Restoration Network, sued the NMFS for its alleged failure to adequately assess the impacts of the oil industry on endangered and threatened marine wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit was filed following a multiagency consultation conducted by the NMFS, which studied the effects of federally regulated oil and gas activities on species listed under the Endangered Species Act in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 50 years. The groups involved argued that the NMFS’ biological opinion, resulting from the consultation, lacked a strong scientific foundation.
The NMFS declined to comment on the settlement, and the Sierra Club did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: AP Newsroom via Fox News
Image source: AP Photo/Evan Vucci
An offshore drilling and production platform operated by Shell is pictured in the Gulf of Mexico about 200 miles southwest of Houston, Texas. (Gary Tramontina/Corbis via Getty Images)
Author: Thomas Catenacci (Politics writer for Fox News Digital)
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