The Biden administration unveiled its long-awaited drilling plan on Friday, which aims to significantly reduce the nation’s offshore oil and gas leasing program. Under the plan, a maximum of three lease sales will be offered over the next five years, making it the smallest number in the program’s history.
The proposal aligns with President Joe Biden’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to the Interior Department. However, environmental groups quickly criticized the plan, considering it a broken campaign promise and far from what scientists recommend to prevent catastrophic climate change.
If approved, the plan will limit offshore oil and gas leasing to a maximum of three lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, scheduled for 2025, 2027, and 2029. No auctions will take place in the Pacific, Atlantic, or Alaskan Arctic.
This proposal represents a significant departure from the Trump administration’s 2018 proposal, which involved 47 potential lease sales in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. It also deviates from a previous Biden proposal in July, which considered up to 11 sales.
The Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law passed by Democrats last year, includes a provision linking future offshore wind development to continued offshore oil and gas leasing. Specifically, it requires the administration to auction off drilling rights before offering new wind lease sales.
According to the Interior Department, the proposed plan enables the administration to work towards its target of deploying 30 gigawatts of wind energy by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes for a year and reduce 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland stated, “The Proposed Program, which represents the smallest number of oil and gas lease sales in history, sets a course for the Department to support the growing offshore wind industry and protect against the potential for environmental damage and adverse impacts to coastal communities.”
Since the offshore leasing program’s inception in 1980, no five-year plan has included fewer than 11 lease sales, with some plans involving more than 30 sales.
However, environmentalists view any future lease sale as a significant mistake, considering the devastating effects of fossil fuel-driven climate change. They argue that President Biden’s failure to halt new offshore drilling contradicts his promise to combat the fossil fuel industry and end new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters. They also point to the approval of ConocoPhillips’ massive Willow project in the Alaskan Arctic as proof of the administration breaking its promises.
Wenonah Hauter, executive director of the environmental group Food & Water Watch, described the plan as an “outlandish and irresponsible decision to increase oil production for decades to come” and an “unconscionable betrayal of future generations.”
U.S. oil and gas producers also voiced their opposition to Biden’s offshore plan, accusing the administration of waging a war on fossil fuels and jeopardizing energy security.
“At a time when inflation runs rampant across the country, the Biden administration is choosing failed energy policies that are adding to the pain Americans are feeling at the pump,” said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who championed the provision in the Inflation Reduction Act linking offshore wind development to oil and gas leasing, condemned the plan but emphasized that, without the act, there would have been zero proposed offshore lease sales. He expressed concern that limiting oil and gas leases would also result in fewer renewable energy leases.
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