The Five-Year Program, which Interior approved on December 14, sets up three massive oil-and-gas auctions through 2029. Interior had originally proposed up to 11 offshore sales, eventually settling on three.

The oil industry lawsuit comes on the heels of another lawsuit from the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, Shell, and the State of Louisiana to remove baseline protections for the critically endangered Rice’s whale in a December Gulf oil auction. It also follows recent moves by the industry to double down on fossil fuel development in the U.S., despite national and international commitments to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address the climate crisis. In November, more than one million gallons of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, another major incident and predictable consequence of offshore oil-and-gas development.

Meanwhile, environmental groups and Gulf-based organizations filed a legal challenge of their own today to hold the Interior Department accountable for failing to adequately consider the public health impacts on frontline communities in its final Five-Year Program. While the program does consider the climate impact of continued oil-and-gas leasing, Interior failed to assess the environmental justice effects of continued offshore fossil fuel development – even after determining that this disparity is a critical issue directly linked to the program. Gulf coast residents already suffer disproportionate health burdens due to life-threatening, toxic industrial pollution stemming from federal offshore oil-and-gas leasing, and these harms will be extended with approval for future leasing. Interior also failed to properly evaluate the impacts of oil-and-gas leasing on endangered species, particularly how new leasing would further imperil the critically endangered Rice’s whale, one of the world’s most endangered marine species.

“Fossil fuel development is untenable if we want a livable future,” said Earthjustice attorney Brettny Hardy. “The oil and gas industry is already sitting on nine million acres of undeveloped leases. They certainly are not entitled to more. Although we acknowledge the government’s focus on climate impacts with the release of this five-year offshore leasing plan, we are taking legal action today because we are concerned about how it will jeopardize the health of overburdened communities.”

“In Houston and along the Texas Gulf Coast, the stakes are high: More fossil fuels means more carbon emissions, which means more intense hurricanes hitting the inadequately guarded petrochemical infrastructure that is already in place,” said Kristen Schlemmer, Legal Director & Waterkeeper for Bayou City Waterkeeper in Houston. “It is time for us to transition away from these industries, not enable further drilling in the years to come.”

“Healthy Gulf is critical of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s recent Five-Year Plan for oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Andrew Whitehurst, water program director for Healthy Gulf. “We highlighted errors and deficiencies in the agency’s analysis of harmful impacts that will further burden Gulf communities. We join as plaintiffs here to ask a federal court to review BOEM’s plan, and force the agency to improve it.”

“We are not surprised by this industry challenge, given its track record of suing every time the Biden Administration makes any attempt to break free from fossil fuels,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director for Friends of the Earth. “While the Five-Year Program does offer a record-low number of sales and greater focus on climate change, unfortunately it continues to unlawfully overlook many significant harms of the offshore drilling industry. Our lawsuit is another stand for the Gulf ecosystem, its nearby communities and all wildlife that continue to suffer at the hands of Big Oil.”

“The new 5-year offshore drilling plan was informed by nearly a million public comments against oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters. The industry’s unwarranted lawsuit belies the fact that new offshore drilling is broadly unpopular and is not needed to meet our nation’s energy needs. Moreover, new offshore drilling will increase carbon pollution and undermine U.S. and global efforts to address climate change, ” said Pete Stauffer, Ocean Protection Manager, Surfrider Foundation.

“Central and western Gulf communities are on the frontlines of offshore drilling disasters, extraction-related pollution, and the climate change fossil fuels are driving,” said Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program director Athan Manuel. “The Biden Administration finalized a five year plan for offshore fossil fuel development that proposes three additional lease sales, but even that new leasing isn’t enough for these corporations. We will continue to fight to protect our communities and climate from the dangers of offshore drilling.”

“Industry’s lawsuit is unfounded and unwarranted,” said Brad Sewell, director of the oceans program at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “This plan still calls for more leasing in the Gulf, which is the last thing we need and in the last place we need it. Gulf waters have never been hotter. Rising seas are swamping the Gulf coast. It’s time to break, not deepen, our dependence on the very fossil fuels that are driving the climate and biodiversity crises. It’s time to make federal ocean policy part of the climate fix, not the problem. Reducing offshore drilling that exposes oceans, marine life and coastal communities to catastrophic risk and ongoing harm is the answer.”

The United States Geological Survey estimates that drilling on public land and in federal waters is responsible for almost a quarter of the greenhouse gases generated by the United States that are warming the planet. The industry currently has 9,000 unused leases or over 8 million acres of public water, and any further expansion of the fossil fuel industry will escalate the climate crisis, said Joanie Steinhaus, Ocean Program Director for Turtle Island Restoration Network.

“We already know that when companies drill, they spill,” said Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon. “While our nation is facing a climate crisis, and coastal communities continue to recover from catastrophic oil spills, the oil industry selfishly wants to open up even more of our oceans for drilling. This comes even though oil and gas companies are already holding over 9 million acres of unused leases. Oceana is ready to stand up to the oil industry to keep it from further ravaging our oceans and our most vulnerable communities. Oceana will fight for those communities, and the oceans that surround them, to stop this deadly cycle of drilling and spilling.”

Communications contact: Brittany Miller, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746

The post Environmental, Gulf Groups React to API Lawsuit Targeting Five-Year Drilling Plan; Seek Stronger Protections for Gulf of Mexico appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The report comes as the New York Times reports the White House is likely to impose a pause on a massive LNG export project in Louisiana known as CP2, a move that may impact other proposed terminals as well.

The report, Methane Madness, examines eight proposed LNG projects being considered for approval by the Biden administration. These unbuilt LNG export projects would expand LNG export capacity into the Asia Pacific region, opening a massive market for Big Oil, and expanding commodity speculation. 

“Big Oil’s talking points about European energy security are cynical and inaccurate,” said Lukas Ross, Climate and Energy Deputy Director at Friends of the Earth. “It is past time for the Department of Energy to overhaul its broken, rubber stamp LNG process.”

The data shows that long-term LNG supply contracts are least likely to be signed with European buyers. If the Biden Administration greenlights these projects and they are brought online, over half of the LNG will be locked into contracts with Big Oil companies and commodity traders–loyal only to their own bottom lines.

“Record LNG exports drive up home heating prices for Americans, and line the pockets of fossil fuel CEOs, and these new planet-wrecking projects are not in the interest of the public ,” said Alan Zibel, an energy researcher with Public Citizen. “No amount of misleading energy industry lobbying can undo the simple reality that LNG exports force American consumers to pay more in the long run while U.S.-produced gas winds up in Beijing and Berlin. The expansion of U.S. LNG export capacity simply empowers Big Oil giants and commodity traders’ ability to earn eye-popping profits.”

Key Findings:

• Eight proposed LNG export projects regulated by the US government are locking-in long term contracts with purchasers – a key ingredient needed to attract investors and begin construction. But none of the eight projects have all the permits from the Biden Administration needed to proceed.
• If built, the eight pending projects will produce the annual equivalent of 113 coal plants in planet-warming emissions. President Biden could defuse these carbon bombs by pausing new Department of Energy approvals while existing regulations are overhauled.
• More than half of the volume from these pending facilities has been secured by commodity trading firms and Big Oil’s speculative trading arms. That means the LNG from these facilities, if they are built, will be sold wherever these so-called “portfolio players” can turn the biggest profit — undercutting industry claims that the expansion is needed for European energy security. Four of the five largest purchasers by volume from pending facilities are speculators.
• The temporary surge in LNG exports to Europe since the outbreak of war in Ukraine is not translating into long-term demand. Contracts with European customers represent the smallest share (18%) from pending LNG facilities. Contracts with Asia Pacific customers account for 30% of total volume, with the remaining 52% going to commodity firms and other portfolio buyers.

Contacts:
Brittany Miller, Friends of the Earth, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746
Jayson O’Neill, BailoutWatch, joneill@climatenexus.org, (406) 570-5019
Patrick Davis, Public Citizen, pdavis@citizen.org, (608) 770-4800

The post Fossil Fuel Speculators Benefit Most From Pending LNG Terminals, Sticking U.S. Consumers with Higher Bills, Analysis Shows appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The United States, now the largest exporter of LNG on the planet, is expected to see exports double by 2027. The pipeline of proposed but not yet under construction facilities represents a veritable carbon bomb, threatening to lock-in over 1400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually — equivalent to the emissions of 378 new coal plants. 

“Any push for a phase-out of all fossil fuels at COP28 risks falling flat if the world’s leading LNG exporter shows no signs of changing course,” the letter reads. “We urge the Biden Administration to publicly commit during the COP to no further regulatory, financial, or diplomatic support for LNG in the United States or anywhere in the world.”

The U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) recently approved support for commodity trader Trafigura to insure speculative bets in the global LNG market. Although the Biden Administration has given regulatory approval to terminals like Alaska LNG, it has yet to approve major projects pending in or near the Gulf of Mexico, such as Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) — the largest export application ever considered by Department of Energy. 

Photographs from the “Break the Chain: Speak Out against LNG” rally will be available here. 

Signatories of the letter released the following quotes (listed in alphabetical order): 

“The United States’ expansion of deadly gas is a threat to communities everywhere. From sacrifice zones where fracked gas is extracted to sites in Asia where millions live alongside dangerous gas infrastructure, more LNG is a dead end hurting our people, said Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt & Development. “At COP28, we sorely need bold leadership for a rapid, just, and equitable transition of the energy system to 100% renewable energy. President Biden can lead, but he must change course immediately and stop LNG expansion.”

“I came to Dubai because the Biden Administration isn’t listening at home,” said Melanie Oldham, founder of Better Brazoria: Clean Air and Water. “Communities like mine live in the shadow of the LNG boom. If this infrastructure isn’t stopped, it means more sacrifice zones and more emissions.” 

“With a fossil fuel phaseout the leading topic at COP28, now’s the time for the Biden administration to halt LNG exports once and for all,” said Ben Goloff of the Center for Biological Diversity. “The United States is doling out permits for new gas export terminals like there’s no tomorrow. Our new analysis shows that the Inflation Reduction Act’s emissions benefits are more than canceled out by the Biden administration’s support for new fossil fuel projects, and new LNG export facilities are the engine of this disastrous machine.”

“We’re faced with clear scientific consensus that we will not have a safe and stable climate if we continue to use and expand fossil fuels. Not only has the United States become the top exporter of LNG, the Biden administration is being bombarded with proposals for new export terminals that could quadruple U.S. LNG export capacity,” said Kelsey Crane, Senior Policy Advocate for Earthworks. “Unless the United States reverses course, the buildout of LNG threatens to put global and domestic climate goals out of reach, perpetuates environmental injustice, and condemns the Gulf South and global South to be sacrificed for false solutions.”

“If President Biden isn’t willing to stand up to LNG, then his climate legacy is in deep trouble,” said Lukas Ross, Senior Program Manager at Friends of the Earth U.S. “The United States cannot preach climate action in Dubai if it is willing to consider mammoth new projects at home like CP2.”

“While the United States is the largest exporter of LNG, Japan is the largest importer. Both are denying their historical responsibility for the climate crisis and putting communities in danger. We must stand together around the world and say no to more LNG,” said Ayumi Fukakusa, Deputy Executive Director at Friends of the Earth Japan.

“As the world’s greatest historical polluter, the United States cannot claim to be a climate champion while exporting methane LNG across the globe, furthering the climate crisis,” said Russell Armstrong, Senior Director for Campaigns and Advocacy at the Hip Hop Caucus. “The hypocrisy is that with one hand, our government has finally realized the need to regulate super pollutants at home, while with the other hand, it continues to sacrifice Black and Brown communities to export LNG at increasingly alarming rates across the globe, keeping other nations addicted to fossil fuels. Here at COP28, the United States must get serious about a full phaseout of fossil fuels that includes a stop to LNG exports, abated and unabated.”

“Under President Biden’s current policies, gas exports are expected to soar by 2035. This administration has funneled billions of taxpayer dollars into LNG projects in the United States and abroad,” said Allie Rosenbluth, United States Program Manager at Oil Change International. “If Biden wants to show he’s truly a climate leader, he must end all support for LNG and support a full, fair, fast, and funded phaseout of fossil fuels at the UN climate talks.”

“As a resident of a frontline community, I wholeheartedly understand and advocate for the imperative of a fast, fair, and forever phaseout of fossil fuels,” said Roishetta Ozane, Director of The Vessel Project of Louisiana and Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator at Texas Campaign for the Environment. “Our community bears the brunt of the negative impacts caused by the extraction and burning of these fuels. As a mom raising children with health conditions caused by the pollution from these industries, I understand the impacts on human life. The United States must stop putting people last and for once put us first.” 

“The mad dash for gas is nothing but a blockade to a renewable energy future in Southeast Asia. Lies peddled by countries like the United States paint gas as a transition fuel, but our people and environment have paid a steep price,” said Krishna Ariola of Youth for Climate Hope Philippines. “In addition to LNG’s environmental and climate impact, new gas plants mean higher electricity bills and a slower transition to renewables. Why must we let LNG poison our waters, destroy biodiversity, and drive us further to climate chaos?” 

“The LNG terminal on Krk Island in Croatia was built despite the overwhelming opposition of the local and regional communities. Croatia now plans to increase its capacity by 100 percent and do it jointly with Austria and Bavaria in order to bring gas to Germany, who already has six new terminals planned. It’s proven that the demand for gas in Europe is decreasing. So the question is, who are these terminals actually in the interest of? Perhaps the United States as the biggest exporter of LNG to the EU?”, said Marija Mileta, vice-president of Zelena Akcija (Friends of the Earth Croatia).

Communications contacts: Brittany Miller, Friends of the Earth, bmiller@foe.org, +1 202 222 0746 (U.S. Pacific Time)
Nicole Rodel, Oil Change International, nicole@priceofoil.org, +27 84 257 0627 (Gulf Standard Time)

The post Global call for United States to change course on LNG at COP28 climate talks appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

Lease Sale 261, which the Biden administration canceled in 2021, is the last of three offshore oil and gas lease sales mandated under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Lease Sales 258 and 259, held in December 2022 and March 2023, were also revived by the IRA. Both of those lease sales were challenged in federal court for failing to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Today’s lawsuit challenges the upcoming lease sale for violations of NEPA because Interior did not consider the health threats to Gulf Coast communities living near oil refineries and other polluting drilling infrastructure. The department also failed to adequately consider the climate impacts from this massive new source of fossil fuel development. The lease sale could result in the production of more than 1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over the next 50 years, resulting in over 370 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

The department agreed to limit the leasing area to reduce the risk of driving the endangered Gulf of Mexico (Rice’s) whale to extinction. Scientists estimate there may be only 51 Gulf of Mexico whales left on Earth. While this is a welcome first step toward better protecting threatened marine life and ecosystems, far more must be done to curb the ecological harms done by offshore drilling. (Interior excluded this same habitat from wind leasing in the Gulf of Mexico.)

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the District of Columbia on behalf of Healthy Gulf, Bayou City Waterkeeper, Friends of the Earth, Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club. It was filed against Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management Laura Daniel-Davis, Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management following the final notice of lease sale 261.

In September, Interior is also expected to release its final proposed Five-Year Program (National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program) for offshore oil and gas leasing. The final plan, which lasts through 2028, could include as many as 11 new offshore lease sales, according to the proposed program. Holding 11 new fossil fuel auctions would sanction up to 70 years of additional fossil-fuel extraction with the potential to emit up to 3.5 billion tons of carbon pollution.

Earthjustice and its clients and partners released the following statements: 

“Once again, the Biden Administration has fallen short of the federal law by neglecting to consider the impact of this massive oil sale on Gulf communities and the climate,” said Earthjustice attorney George Torgun. “We’re pleased that Interior excluded habitat for the nearly extinct Gulf of Mexico whale from this lease sale, but it’s equally critical that Interior builds on this step and protects climate and Gulf communities from the harms of leasing.”

“Unfortunately, given BOEM’s history of sacrificing the Gulf of Mexico to Big Oil, this lease sale decision comes as no surprise,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director of Friends of the Earth. “Our lawsuit should also come as no surprise, since BOEM continues to rely on the same outdated, broken environmental analysis. If we are going to make a dent in the climate crisis, business as usual must stop. We are going to keep fighting until the Gulf of Mexico is off the table for good.”

“As steward of the country’s public lands and waters, Interior has a duty to fully consider the harms offshore leasing can cause, from air pollution to oil spills, and beyond,” said Julia Forgie, attorney for NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council).  “This vast lease sale—for millions of acres—poses threats to Gulf communities and endangered species—while contributing to the climate crisis this region knows far too well. We are holding the agency to its obligation to carefully assess these risks and the climate fallout of this giveaway to Big Oil.”

“It’s mind-boggling that in this summer of deadly fossil fuel-driven record heat, fires and flooding the Biden administration couldn’t be bothered to look carefully at the damage this lease sale will cause to people, endangered wildlife and the climate,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Across the country we’re seeing lethal wildfires, boiling ocean temperatures and mass coral die-offs, all caused or exacerbated by a climate unnaturally warmed by fossil fuel emissions. We’ve got to stop letting oil and gas companies make it worse by drilling in our oceans.”

“It is time to transition away from fossil fuels,” said Kristen Schlemmer, Legal Director and Waterkeeper for Bayou City Waterkeeper. “Continued development in the Gulf of Mexico creates unfair burdens on communities in Houston and across the Gulf South. Moving forward with Lease Sale 261 means more drilling in the years to come. It means more facilities in our backyards. It means higher rates of cancer and heart and lung diseases, and it means more risks during major storms.”

“Selling public lands and waters to Big Polluters is incompatible with achieving the ambitious climate goals the Biden Administration itself has set,” said Devorah Ancel, Sierra Club Environmental Law Program senior attorney. “Fossil fuel extraction is destructive to communities, ecosystems, wildlife, and our climate. The devastating effects of climate change, from heat waves to storms, are particularly harmful to frontline communities, as this summer has shown. Moving forward with this lease sale locks us into extraction for decades to come, right as we should be transitioning to clean energy.”

Communications contact: Brittany Miller, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746

The post Lawsuit Challenges Massive Offshore Lease Sale for Failing to Properly Consider Gulf Communities and Climate appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The post Friends of the Earth Slams Climate Omission in New Oil and Gas Leasing Rule appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

For more than 40 years, the repeated invocation of this exclusion has contributed to lax governmental oversight and a failure to grapple with the harmful effects of long-term resource extraction in the Gulf. In fact, BOEM relied on this same exclusion to approve BP’s exploration plans for the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling project, which caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Although the National Commission that investigated the causes of the BP disaster concluded that use of this categorical exclusion contributed to a systemic breakdown in BOEM’s environmental review process, the agency has not stopped invoking it on a routine basis. In the last five years, BOEM approved about 560 out of the 600 development plans submitted using the exclusion and about 90 out of the 400 exploration plans submitted.

The groups — Healthy Gulf, Center for Biological Diversity, Bayou City Waterkeeper, Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and Earthjustice — are requesting that BOEM immediately take steps to repeal or eliminate this categorical exclusion for oil-and-gas exploration and development in the Gulf.

Allowing for expedited approvals of oil and gas activity has taken a heavy toll on the Gulf of Mexico. Given the intensification of climate change and the known risks of deepwater drilling in an era of more powerful hurricanes, BOEM has no rationale for the continued use of exclusions.

“In addition to environmental analysis, NEPA processes such as environmental impact statements also allow for critical public engagement through public notices and comment periods,” said Andrew Whitehurst, Water Programs Director for Healthy Gulf. “This use of a categorical exclusion ensures that people concerned with or impacted by oil and gas activities do not have a voice, nor do they have information available to them about predicted impacts from these fast-tracked projects. It’s time BOEM ends this exclusion and follows NEPA guidelines intended to protect our environment and the people that depend on it.” 

“BOEM’s use of the categorical exemption has given the petrochemical industry a pass to extract and pollute for far too long,” said Kristen Schlemmer, the Legal Director of Houston-based Bayou City Waterkeeper. “The federal government’s priorities for the Gulf of Mexico have been all wrong; they have forced those of us living in Houston and along the Gulf coast to yield our health and ecosystems for generations so that polluting industries may profit over the short-term. This petition gives the Biden administration the opportunity to end this practice and value what matters most: the health of our environment and our people.”

“The federal government has been rubber stamping new oil-and-gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico for far too long,” said Hallie Templeton, legal director for Friends of the Earth. “Federal officials must stop their nonsensical approval process and instead consider the clear environmental and socio-economic harms before greenlighting dangerous projects. Assessing the damages of expanded fossil fuel extraction in the Gulf is the very least BOEM can do to protect this sacrifice zone and its communities.”

“There is no justification for the existence of the categorical exclusion, which has essentially been used as a NEPA workaround since the Eighties,” said Brettny Hardy, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “We’ve already witnessed the harrowing consequences of what happens when the government cuts corners on behalf of the fossil fuel industry. This is an easy decision and one that’s long overdue.”

“It’s way past time to stop giving oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico a free pass. We should be phasing out offshore drilling entirely,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “But in the meantime, Gulf operations should get more scrutiny, not a fast-tracked approval. The oil and gas industry has proven it poses a huge risk to ocean ecosystems. The sea turtles, manatees, Rice’s whales and other animals that live in the Gulf deserve better protection.”

“NEPA has been one of our bedrock environmental laws for more than half a century. Allowing categorical exclusions for offshore oil and gas extraction undercuts that critical law,” said Devorah Ancel, senior attorney Sierra Club Environmental Law Program. “It also deprives the public — and the communities affected by drilling — from weighing in on disruptive projects that could have significant environmental, economic, and social consequences for the people, ecosystems, and wildlife of the Gulf. The Biden Administration has the chance to protect these places by ending this practice.”

Communications contact: Brittany Miller, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746   

The post Gulf and Environmental Groups Call on Interior Department to End Routine Fast-Tracking of Offshore Oil Drilling Projects appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The request also seeks records concerning DOE’s interactions with fossil fuel interests and whether the public has been adequately apprised of any LNG policy-setting decisions being made behind closed doors.

“An open government is one of the most important pillars upon which our democracy was founded,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director at Friends of the Earth. “If the DOE is holding secretive meetings with fossil fuel proponents, it’s likely that significant discussions impacting U.S. climate policy are occurring behind closed doors. Unfortunately, the administration’s pro-fossil fuel position does nothing to alleviate our worries. We hope DOE swiftly fulfills our FOIA request and puts our concerns at bay.” 

The FOIA requests comes amidst the Biden Administration’s alarming support for expanding U.S. LNG and repeated pushes in international forums such as the G-7 to justify new infrastructure.  The Administration greenlit the massive, $39 billion Alaska LNG project in April and new, long-term LNG contracts have skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Friends of the Earth recently sued the Department of State for a second time over its expedited 2022 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking insight into Biden energy official Amos Hochstein and potential fossil fuel influence over the U.S. response to the war in Ukraine. 

Communications contact: Brittany Miller, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746

The post New Records Request Targets DOE’s LNG greenwashing scheme appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

This follows The Bureau of Land Management’s recent lease sales in North Dakota (June 27) and in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas (May 24). In total, the Biden Administration has auctioned off over 140,000 acres of public land throughout May and June alone. 

These actions directly contradict President Biden’s pledge to address the quarter of U.S. climate emissions that result from fossil fuel extraction on public lands. 

Nicole Ghio, Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager for Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement: 

The Biden Administration should be swiftly ending the era of fossil fuels, not expanding new drilling and dirty infrastructure. By continuing to sacrifice our public lands and approve enormous fossil fuel projects, President Biden is poisoning communities and throwing his so-called “climate presidency” out the window. Biden must immediately cancel these lease sales and reverse our rapid descent into irreparable climate catastrophe. 

The post Biden Administration Spearheads Massive Public Lands Giveaway appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

Conservation groups sued the Department of the Interior in April to compel a response to the petition after the agency had ignored it for more than a year. As intended, the lawsuit forced that response. The Department’s only rationale for denying the petition was that it has “insufficient resources” to initiate the requested rulemaking.  

Scientific conclusions reached since the petition was filed in 2022 show that wealthy countries must end oil and gas extraction by 2031 to maintain a likely chance of avoiding the harms of warming 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

“Leaving the fossil fuel industry in control of the oil and gas spigot is an appalling abdication of climate leadership on public lands,” said Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity. “To claim that the Biden administration doesn’t have the resources to take real climate action on federal fossil fuels is vacuous and beyond hypocritical. This is the definition of lip service. The administration acknowledges the urgency to address climate change and meanwhile avoids every opportunity to take meaningful action on the fossil fuels under its control.” 

The Bureau of Land Management’s response cites several ongoing or upcoming rulemakings that envision piecemeal changes to the management of oil and gas on public lands, none of which aim to restrict production consistent with decline curves necessary to avoid warming 1.5 degrees Celsius. Most of these proposed regulatory changes were already mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act, which envisions another decade of oil and gas leasing, making these regulatory changes virtually superfluous.  

“It’s beyond disappointing that the administration has opted to deny our petition and hide behind other rulemaking efforts that are likely to prove ineffective in the long run in this code-red climate moment,” said Hallie Templeton, legal director for Friends of the Earth. “The U.S. and the world need bold action to phase out fossil fuels. We will keep fighting and holding federal officials accountable.” 

The Biden administration’s response comes as it touts “all-time high” federal oil production amid a cascade of new fossil fuel approvals like the massive Willow project in Alaska’s Western Arctic. These projects defy U.N. calls to end new oil and gas development and Biden campaign promises to end new drilling on public land. The administration has failed to propose any policies to align the federal fossil fuel programs with the decline curves necessary to avoid warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

“The Department of the Interior continues to bend over backward to accommodate the fossil fuel industry,” said Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director for WildEarth Guardians. “If the Department would actually take comprehensive and meaningful steps to aid our nation’s transition away from oil, gas and coal, and truly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it would save them time and money and help spare this country the costly consequences of climate change.” 

Federal data shows the Biden administration has approved 6,430 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands in its first two years, outpacing even the Trump administration’s first two years. More than half those permits were in the Permian Basin, where per-well emissions of methane pollution are among the highest in the country and permitting accelerated from 2021 to 2022. 

The Administrative Procedure Act requires federal agencies to initiate rulemaking or provide a substantive response to rulemaking petitions within a reasonable timeframe. Plaintiff groups dropped their lawsuit this week after compelling the administration’s response and are now evaluating the legal adequacy of the substance of the response. 

Communications contact: Brittany Miller, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746 

The post Biden Administration Rejects Calls to Phase Out Oil, Gas on Public Lands by 2035 appeared first on Friends of the Earth.