Federal drilling lease sales canceled
White House facing Republican criticism as gas prices keep rising
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is canceling oil drilling lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet, triggering furious responses from Republicans, who are blaming President Joe Biden’s energy policies for high gas prices.
A spokesperson for the Interior Department, Melissa Schwartz, said in a statement that the Cook Inlet lease sale would not proceed because of a “lack of industry interest.” She said the planned sale of two leases in the Gulf of Mexico was being scrapped because of “conflicting court rulings,” which she said affected the agency’s ability to work on the leases.
The decisions come at a challenging time for the Biden administration. The average price for a gallon of gas nationwide hit $4.37 on Tuesday, a record according to the AAA. Surging prices at the pump have compounded inflationary pressures for consumers, which Biden this week said will be his top domestic priority.
The leasing program presents a dilemma for Biden. He has promised progressive Democrats and environmental groups that he would propel the country away from its dependence on the fossil fuels that are driving climate change. At the same time, he has taken steps to increase oil supplies to try to bring down gas prices, including calling on the oil industry to pump more crude.
Even though any lease sale would not produce oil and gas in time to alleviate current high energy prices, Republicans and oil industry leaders Thursday seized on the cancellation of lease sales to claim that Biden’s actions were exacerbating the pain felt by consumers.
“The Biden administration’s announcement that they will cancel new offshore oil and gas production approaches levels of irresponsibility and reckless stupidity never seen before,” Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, the top Republican on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, said in a statement.
Graves and other Republicans as well as oil industry leaders also criticized the Biden administration for failing so far to issue a new five-year offshore drilling plan.
Federal law requires the administration to issue a new offshore leasing plan every five years, which is designed to balance the nation’s energy needs with environmental and economic factors.
The current plan expires June 30, raising concerns among Republicans, the oil and gas industry and some Democrats from fossil fuel states that offshore leasing will be in limbo starting in July.
Frank Macchiarola, a senior vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group that represents oil and gas companies, said in a statement that he would “urge the administration to end the uncertainty” for the oil industry and issue the five-year plan.
Macchiarola said the decision to scrap lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska “is becoming a pattern” in the Biden administration. “The administration talks about the need for more supply and acts to restrict it,” he said.
The Cook Inlet lease sale would have opened more than 1 million acres for drilling, spanning at least 40 years of production. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management previously canceled lease sales in the area in 2006, 2008 and 2010, also citing lack of interest from the industry at the time.
Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife and oceans for environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, called the canceled leases “unnecessary” and said they would work against the goal of pivoting the nation away from fossil fuels and toward solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.