The Interior Department announced Tuesday the suspension of all Arctic National Wildlife Refuge leases pending an environmental analysis, shutting down one of the Trump administration’s landmark energy initiatives.
The order by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland freezes the 10-year leases on nine tracts covering more than 430,000 acres that were awarded by the Bureau of Land Management in its Jan. 6 lease sale following the August decision to open Alaska’s coastal plain to oil-and-gas exploration.
“Secretarial Order 3401 directs the Department to initiate a comprehensive environmental analysis to review the potential impacts of the Program and to address the legal deficiencies in the current leasing program’s environmental review under NEPA [the National Environmental Policy Act],” said the statement.
The move is consistent with Mr. Biden’s pattern of decisions deemphasizing U.S. energy independence, which the Trump administration achieved in 2019 for the first time since 1957, in favor of reducing oil-and-gas activity in the name of combating climate change.
Democrats and environmentalists, who had accused then-President Trump of rushing the lease sale before he left office, cheered the decision.
“This is the right move by the Biden Administration,” said Sen. Tom Carper, Delaware Democrat. “We should be protecting our treasured public lands and being good stewards of the vulnerable spaces that we are lucky to have in this country, especially in the midst of a climate crisis.”
Meanwhile, the National Republican Congressional Committee said the lease suspension places the nation on a path away toward greater dependency on foreign oil, noting that gas prices are at their highest in seven years.
“Democrats don’t care about high gas prices, they only care about appeasing their radical base,” said the NRCC spokesman Mike Berg in a statement. “Suspending drilling in ANWR will kill American jobs and make us more reliant on Middle Eastern oil.”
In its statement, Interior cited Mr. Biden’s day-one order directing the department to “review oil and gas activity in the Arctic refuge.”
Other high-profile energy moves by Mr. Biden include his cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline cross-border permit; his decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord, and his suspension of oil-and-gas leasing on federal lands and waters.
Whether to allow drilling in ANWR’s 1002 Area, where oil reserves are estimated at between 4.3 billion and 11.8 billion barrels, has been debated for decades, with Congress breaking the logjam in 2017 by passing legislation to oil-and-gas drilling.
Those in favor of opening ANWR, including Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state’s GOP congressional delegation, said they had confidence in the required environmental protections and noted that the coastal plain area represents just 1.57 million acres of the 19.3-million-acre refuge.
Read rest at Washington Times
I’m quite taken by the sign that fantasises a plant turning into a wind turbine.
What a remarkable grip on reality.
Yet, maybe this is the future. Plants will make way for unreliables and we still won’t have any power…
It boggles the mind, but only if you have one. Climate Change is like LSD in the water supply.
FEB 12, 2021 Biden’s War On Energy Forcing Oil Rigs To Relocate From N.M. To Texas
“By contrast, the Texas side of the Permian Basin is largely private land and therefore unimpacted by the new federal actions. We have seen rigs depart New Mexico for Texas simply because of the uncertainty caused by the Order.”
https://climatechangedispatch.com/bidens-war-on-energy-forcing-oil-rigs-to-relocate-from-n-m-to-texas/
How do you spell relief? I.M.P.E.A.C.H.
Well, a few (key) facts about ANWR (rather conveniently) are ALWAYS left out of the discussion. Let’s review: 1.) The 2017 legislation that authorized the two lease sales LIMITS the total amount of surface disturbance to 2,000 acres. Yes, 430K acres was leased, but industry is LIMITED on the amount of surface disturbance, PERIOD. It’s stipulated clearly in the final paragraph of the legislation. 2.) The DRAFT EIS, as I recall, was something over THREE THOUSAND pages, including appendices and took over two years to formulate. Hardly a “pedestrian” environmental analysis. 3.) The PRELIMINARY EIS only sets the parameters for leasing moving forward. ANY individual drilling location, road, facility & pipeline will be subject to FULL NEPA analysis as an Application for Permit to Drill (APD) is filed with BLM. So, at such time as specific surface disturbance is proposed, you will have an additional (detailed) environmental analysis with public notice/input and ANY additional stipulations, mitigation measures & conditions of approval as deemed appropriate by reviewing agencies. 4.) The VAST majority of Alaskans & TRIBAL entities support responsible O & G development in ANWR. Almost ALL of the “dissent” is by organized activists & politicians in the “Lower 48.” That can, most likely, be readily verified in the public comments in the leasing EIS and the ongoing environmental disinformation campaign that has gone on (now) for FOURTY years. So, once again, the American public is NOT getting the “full picture” of how the system works for oil & gas development in sensitive areas, like ANWR. I openly DEFY any environmental NGO to REFUTE even a connecting word in the four points made. FACTS just don’t seem to matter. That will prove a short sighted & foolish posture as ideologically driven, misguided enviro-fanatics continue to COLLAPSE our reliable & affordable energy system into predictable chaos & energy POVERTY. Get ready as our nation, through unforced error, continues on the road to the “Hurt Locker”…
Skyrocketing energy prices are the intent of
Biden’sHarris’ policies. It’s just another tool to undermine the United States and force the population to comply.Great political logic … freeze energy exploration while earth freezes … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhzv_GB7DuQ