Response: Biden’s renewed oil and gas lease sales are a disastrous move in the wrong direction
“True energy independence means rejecting fossil fuel expansion and ending Big Oil’s greed while rapidly building out renewable energy on public lands and beyond,” said Rees.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2022
Contact:
Collin Rees, collin@priceofoil.org
Oil Change International: Biden’s renewed oil and gas lease sales are a disastrous move in the wrong direction
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Biden administration announced that it would be moving forward with new onshore oil and gas lease sales, following a review and some small tweaks to the program, including an increased royalty rate.
In response, Collin Rees, U.S. Program Manager at Oil Change International, issued the following statement:
“In the midst of a climate emergency and a fossil-fueled war that has exposed the dangers of fossil fuel dependency, President Biden’s decision to double down on leasing new public lands for fossil fuel development is a disastrous choice.
“There’s no amount of regulation that can change the facts — ‘significantly reformed’ oil and gas lease sales will still result in selling off our public lands for deadly extraction that’s hurting communities and driving the climate crisis. Increasing royalty rates may even result in furthering state and federal reliance on oil and gas leasing revenue, just as the science is clear that we need to be stopping all expansion of fossil fuel extraction.
“This is an ugly betrayal of Joe Biden’s campaign promises and his administration’s rhetoric on environmental justice and climate action. Biden is choosing to stand with polluters over people at the expense of frontline communities and the future of the planet. True energy independence means rejecting fossil fuel expansion and ending Big Oil’s greed while rapidly building out renewable energy on public lands and beyond.”
###
– The announcement from the U.S. Department of the Interior can be found here: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOI/bulletins/313a817
– Oil Change International’s reaction to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s oil and gas leasing program review in November 2021 can be found here: https://oilchange.org/2021/11/26/reaction-interior-oil-gas-leasing-report