NY Times: Biden Administration Considering Banning ALL New Offshore Drilling

quote:

---

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s top aides are weighing whether to ban new oil and gas drilling off America’s coasts, a move that would elate climate activists but could leave the administration vulnerable to Republican accusations that it is exacerbating an energy crunch as gas prices soar.

By law, the Department of Interior is required to release a plan for new oil and gas leases in federal waters every five years. Deb Haaland, the Interior secretary, has promised Congress a draft of the Biden plan will be available by June 30.

With the administration acutely aware that inflation and high prices at the pump are weighing on voters ahead of November’s midterm elections, the White House is shaping the plan, two administration officials said.

Discussions about whether and where to allow drilling are being led by Bruce Reed, the deputy chief of staff, and include chief of staff Ron Klain and longtime adviser Steve Ricchetti, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deliberations.

“The Biden administration is in a difficult place,” said Sara Rollet Gosman, a professor of environment and energy law at the University of Arkansas. “If the Department of the Interior decides to eliminate offshore lease sales or to offer only a few sales, it does the right thing for the climate. But it also gives ammunition to fossil fuel companies to argue that President Biden doesn’t care about high gas prices.”

---

quote:

---

As a candidate, Mr. Biden pledged to end new drilling on public lands and in federal waters. Environmental activists have argued offshore drilling has no place in a clean energy future. They are pressuring the administration to prohibit drilling throughout the entire outer continental shelf to reduce the United States’ contribution to climate change.

“We’ve been very clear in our conversations with Interior that we expect the president to uphold his campaign commitment to ending new leasing,” said Diane Hoskins, a campaign director at Oceana, an environmental advocacy organization.

---

quote:

---

If Mr. Biden issues new drilling leases, he risks alienating climate-minded voters who Democrats need to turn out for the midterm elections this fall, said Tré Easton, a Democratic strategist.

“Joe Biden breaking a major campaign promise and extending new leases will have no bearing on energy prices in this country,” he said. “It’s a distraction and I really hope the White House recognizes it as such.”

Areas made available for leasing under the blueprint would be auctioned through 2027. It can take years between a lease sale and the production of gas or oil from offshore drilling.

---

quote:

---

“The administration can’t pretend to support oil and gas production while doing everything in their power to slow down and block expanded production on public land,” Senator John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming, said at a recent hearing where he and others grilled Ms. Haaland on the five-year plan.

The draft five-year plan for the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program is expected to include several options, including a “no action alternative” — that is, not offering any new lease sales, which has happened in the past.

Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, declined to comment on the internal deliberations and said no decisions have been finalized.

---

quote:

---

President Trump tried to open all coastal waters of the United States to oil and gas drilling, including the areas protected by the Obama administration.

But by the end of his administration and under intense pressure from Florida Republicans who feared drilling would hurt tourism, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that prohibits drilling for 10 years off the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

---

LINK

If the plan that rolls out at the end of the month is to not approve any new Federal Offshore APDs, then I'll have to admit to being wrong several months back.

While Biden campaigned on ending drilling on Federal Lands, I always thought SOMEONE within that administration who actually watches and pays attention to elections and voter trends (sort of like Dick Morris and James Carville for the Clinton Administration) would still craft a way for new drilling and production continue on Fed Lands while keeping those far left enviro-socialist groups at bay. After all, it's tough for the party in power to do well in elections when gasoline is averaging $5/gallon nationwide.

That seemed to be why after his 60 day "moratorium" when he first got into office, the Biden Department of Interior was approving new Federal APDs at an incredibly high rate from about March 2021 till November 2021.

But maybe not. Maybe there's not a single person within that administration trying to talk some sense about needing to show that Democrats actually care about rising gasoline prices before the midterms this Fall.

Oh well. Hopefully it's a bloodbath for them in November.