Biden Admin Proposes Three Offshore Oil Drilling Leases Through 2029

Biden Admin Proposes Three Offshore Oil Drilling Leases Through 2029

President Joe Biden’s administration wants to hold three offshore oil drilling leases in 2029.

It’s the fewest in history. All are located in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The Biden-Harris administration is committed to building a clean energy future that ensures America’s energy independence,” boasted Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “The Proposed Final 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.”

The Department of the Interior (DI) said the move proves America is serious about moving towards green energy:

The reduction of the next National OCS [Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing] Program to a maximum of three potential lease sales will bring the Federal offshore oil and gas program in line with the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and meet the IRA’s requirements for future offshore renewable energy leasing. The areas considered for leasing and number of potential lease sales in the 2024-2029 Proposed Final Program have been significantly narrowed from the previous administration’s original proposal of 47 lease sales off all coastal areas in the U.S. over a five-year period. The previous proposal presented risks to local coastal economies – particularly for communities along the east and west coast where offshore oil and gas development has not been authorized in decades, if ever.

The IRA [Inflation Reduction Act] does not allow the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to issue a lease for offshore wind development unless the agency has offered at least 60 million acres for oil and gas leasing on the OCS in the previous year. The three potential sales in the Proposed Final Program will enable the Department’s offshore wind energy program to continue to issue offshore wind leases, ensuring continued progress towards the administration’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act requires the government to issue offshore oil and gas lease sales every five years.

The environmentalists and climate change zealots are ticked. Remember, they are never satisfied:

Meanwhile, environmental and climate advocates have pointed to scorching summer temperatures that are forecast to make 2023 the hottest year on record as they’ve blasted President Joe Biden for backing off his campaign promise to halt fossil fuel production on federally controlled areas. And they argue the oil industry doesn’t need any more lease sales because three-quarters of the 12 million acres they hold under current leases in the Gulf are sitting unused, according to data from progressive think tank Center for American Progress.

Oceana executive Beth Lowell said: “By failing to end new offshore drilling, President Biden missed an easy opportunity to do the right thing and deliver on climate for the American people. This decision is beyond disappointing.”

The decision angered oil and gas groups as well.

American Petroleum Institute Chief Executive Mike Sommers said: “This restrictive offshore leasing program is the latest tactic in a coordinated strategy to reduce energy production, ultimately weakening America’s energy dominance, limiting consumers’ access to affordable reliable energy and compromising our ability to lead on the global stage.”

Sommers added: “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.”

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) scorched Biden for taking jobs away from Alaskans and harming the state’s economy: “Throughout this presidency, Alaskans have been hit the hardest by these failed policies and today’s news is no different: Alaska, one of the most resource-rich places on the planet, may well have to import natural gas from foreign countries because of this administration’s policies and plans for shutting down Alaska’s Cook Inlet. This is insanity.”

The DOI admitted it would have proposed zero leases if it weren’t for the IRA.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) helped write the IRA, which, as stated above, said the department cannot have their beloved wind farms without leasing 60 million acres for oil and gas leasing.

Manchin promised to hold the Biden administration accountable as it depletes our ability to stay energy independent: “To be clear — three lease sales is more than the zero we would have gotten had it not been for the IRA. But it makes no sense at all to actively be limiting our energy production while our adversaries are weaponizing energy around the world.”

Exactly. They couldn’t fit more into those acres?

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.