Environmental groups file objections to Biden’s plan for oil and gas leasing on public lands

Environmental groups have filed formal objections to the Biden administration’s plan to offer 734,000 acres of public lands for oil and gas leasing, a decision that critics have condemned as an "insane policy in light of the climate crisis."

About a dozen conservation groups filed their objection with the US Bureau of Land Management on Friday, arguing that public land is off-limits for oil and gas extraction because the government has failed to thoroughly assess the federal program’s impacts on the environment and climate.

Biden's plan could unleash up to 246 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to the amount emitted in a year by 62 coal-fired power plants combined, according to the filing.

“It’s appalling that the Interior Department plans to allow more climate-destroying oil and gas extraction when it has broad legal authority not to lease these public lands,” said Michael Saul, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Judges in several recent court decisions have agreed that it’s illegal to allow any new leasing without looking at the potential harm to the climate, wildlife habitat and groundwater. Any analysis of the dangers of fracking and drilling will make undeniably clear that the federal fossil fuel program needs to end now,” he added.

In January, the Biden administration suspended new oil and gas leasing pending a review of the program. However, the administration said this week it was renewing leasing plans for the Gulf of Mexico following a court order that blocked President Joe Biden’s moratorium.

The sale will be live-streamed from New Orleans on Nonvoter 17, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced on Thursday, stressing that bidding will only be accepted by mail.

The agency had postponed lease sales scheduled in March to comply with Biden’s executive order to combat climate change.

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"The government is playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette with our future," Melissa Hornbein, senior attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center, said in a statement on Friday.

"The science is clear: In order to maintain an even chance of limiting warming to 1.5ºC, approximately 60% of global oil and gas must be left in the ground," Hornbein continued. "I think we can all agree that a 50% chance of success isn't great odds when it comes to our planet's ability to support life, yet the government is doubling down on fossil fuel extraction precisely when it should be hitting the brakes."

Progressives have argued that while the federal judge’s injunction challenges the implementation of Biden’s executive order, it does not require the Interior Department to resurrect leasing for oil and gas extraction.

Biden’s moratorium did not affect existing leases, which were sold in droves by the administration of former President Donald Trump.

Despite a campaign pledge to combat the climate crisis and a declaration of a climate “code red,” Biden's administration has so far approved fossil fuel drilling permits on public and tribal lands at a rate much faster rate than his two immediate predecessors, according to a new Associated Press analysis.

The coalition that filed Friday’s objection said the Biden administration "has approved more than 2,800 new permits to drill.”

Fossil fuel production on public lands accounts for approximately a quarter of US greenhouse gas emissions.

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