The Interior Dept.’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced a Record of Decision for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257, with a preferred alternative for a proposed regionwide lease sale covering the Western and Central Planning Areas and the portion of the Eastern Planning Area not subject to a congressional moratorium. A lease sale is expected in the fall.
The announcement follows a preliminary injunction issued by a federal district court in August enjoining DOI from continued implementation of the oil and gas leasing moratorium instituted by Executive Order earlier this year. Although it is moving forward in the leasing process, DOI noted that it “will continue to exercise the authority and discretion provided under law to conduct leasing in a manner that fulfills Interior’s legal responsibilities, including to take into account the programs’ documented deficiencies,” and that in addition to continued review of “noted shortcomings” it will conduct a programmatic analysis to determine what changes may be necessary to meet the administration’s 2030 and 2050 greenhouse gas emissions targets.
In response to a preliminary injunction enjoining the Interior Dept. from implementing the pause in oil and gas leasing directed by an Executive Order issued earlier this year, DOI last month issued a statement in support of the Justice Department’s appeal of the injunction.
In doing so, DOI cited the greenhouse gas implications associated with the federal oil and gas leasing programs and the programs’ failure to “adequately incorporate consideration of climate impacts into leasing decisions or reflect the social costs of greenhouse gas emissions, including…in royalty rates.” DOI added that previous program implementation “did not adequately reflect the breadth of the Interior Secretary’s stewardship responsibilities, including conserving wildlife habitat, protecting historic and cultural resources, ensuring that public lands are available for multiple uses, protecting marine, coastal, and human environments, meeting trust responsibilities to American Indian and Alaksa Native Tribes, and providing a fair return to taxpayers.”
DOI further stated that the federal oil and gas programs “inadequately account for environmental harms to lands, waters, and other resources, foster speculation…and frequently leave impacted communities out of important conversations about how they want the public lands and waters managed.”
