Despite record-high gas prices, the Biden White House has granted fewer new oil and gas leases than any previous administration.
SO WHAT
Ordinary Americans take a backseat to Democrats’ green energy goals.
THE NUMBERS
Under President Biden the federal government has issued 97% fewer new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal property than under President Trump as measured by land area, the smallest amount of any administration since the end of the Second World War, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The near shutdown of leases partially fulfilled the campaign promise Biden made in March 2020, when he vowed: “No more drilling on federal lands, no more drilling including offshore — no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill — period.”
- White House lawyers defended the “pause” in leases in a lengthy legal battle that has continued through the spring and summer of 2022, when gas prices were at their peak.
- In April 2020, the White House responded to mounting public pressure over sky-high gas prices by opening up a small area of federal land to bids.
- The administration later agreed to open more land and ocean territory to energy exploration as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, but experts have warned these leases may be limited to areas that aren’t appealing to drillers.
CONTEXT
New oil and gas leases wouldn’t translate into increased production right away, as it typically takes at least six months to a year for new wells to become operational.
- However, a continued halt on new lease sales will affect energy supplies and prices in years to come, according to industry experts, who forecast a 33% reduction in Gulf of Mexico oil production by 2035, assuming current policies remain in place.
- Renewable energy, often presented as an alternative to fossil fuels, continues to face major obstacles in terms of reliability, storage and transportability, due to the size of the United States and its fragmented power grids.
- Similar stumbling blocks to renewable energy have left American allies in Europe dangerously dependent on Russian natural gas, forcing the continent to turn to coal, nuclear power and liquid natural gas imports from the U.S. and elsewhere.