In furtherance of the federal oil and gas leasing pause and related review included in President Biden’s Jan. 2021 Executive Order on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” the Interior Department today announced that it will hold a virtual livestreamed forum on Thursday, Mar. 25 and that “it is time…to take steps to better manage our public lands.” In addition to the forum, the public can submit written comments by email (energyreview@ios.doi.gov) through Thursday, Apr. 15.
The forum — which will include several panels that will reflect perspectives of groups including industry, labor, environmental justice organizations, natural resource advocates, and academia as well as remarks from Interior Sec. Deb Haaland and presentations from the Bureaus of Ocean Energy Management and Land Management — will inform development of an interim report to be completed in early summer that includes initial findings on the state of federal conventional energy programs and next steps and recommendations for DOI and Congress to improve stewardship, create jobs, and build a “just and equitable” energy future.
In making the announcement, in addition to stating that fossil fuel development on public lands reflects ~25% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and that industry “has stockpiled millions of acres of leases” and holds ~7,700 “unused, approved drilling permits,” DOI referred to previous legislative proposals to reform the oil and gas leasing program, including efforts “to better ensure the public is not shut out of land management and leasing decisions,” address cleanup and remediation costs associated with orphan wells, and “provide a fair return to taxpayers for the use of their resources.”
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Laura Daniel-Davis said that the federal oil and gas program “is not serving the American public well,” and that “[i]t’s time to take a close look at how to best manage our nation’s natural resources with current and future generations in mind,” noting DOI’s near-term efforts “to restore balance on America’s lands and waters and to put our public lands’ energy programs on a more sound and sustainable conservation, fiscal and climate footing.”
