BILLINGS, Mont. — Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on public lands in the United States are on track to reach their highest level since George W. Bush was president this year, underscoring President Joe Biden’s reluctance to act more forcefully against petroleum production in the face of the industry and Republican opposition.
The states with the most approvals were New Mexico and Wyoming. Hundreds of people were killed in Montana, Colorado, and Utah.
However, the administration’s actions on fossil fuels so far have been modest, including a judge-ordered temporary halt to new oil and gas leases on federal lands, a ban on petroleum sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and the cancellation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.
Because enormous fossil fuel deposits are already leased, these measures had little effect on the drilling on public lands and waterways, which account for roughly a quarter of US oil output.
“He’s on a tightrope,” said S&P Global Platts energy analyst Parker Fawcett, noting that the Keystone and ANWR pipelines did not come with high political costs because they were aimed at future projects.
“Those simple wins today don’t always have enormous market impacts,” Fawcett added. “He’s taking a step back from executing a risky move that may destabilize the market….” What you’ll see is that oil output in the United States will continue to rise.”
Haaland told Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, “Gas and oil production will continue long into the future, and we think that is the reality of our economy and the society we live in.”
Interior officials declined to comment further on the permits issued during Biden’s tenure.
The Interior Department shortened the time it takes to examine drilling applications from a year or more in certain situations to just a few months under previous President Donald Trump, a fervent industry advocate.
Under a temporary order that escalated permit evaluations to top administration officials when Biden first entered office, the pace slowed. Since then, approvals have risen to a pace that exceeds monthly figures recorded during Trump’s administration.
Because of delays in sending data from Interior field offices to headquarters, the data received by AP from a government database is susceptible to change.
The Interior Department may issue close to 6,000 permits by the end of the year if current patterns continue. The last time this many were issued was in the fiscal year 2008 when crude prices soared to an all-time high of $140 a barrel in June.
According to Fawcett, the industry analyst, around 4,700 drilling applications were still outstanding as of June 1, implying that approvals will continue at a rapid pace while authorities work through a backlog left over from the Trump administration.
Mitch Jones, policy director for the environmental nonprofit Food & Water Watch, said, “Every indication is they have no intentions to really deliver their campaign promise.” “As a result, fossil fuel extraction on public lands will continue and expand, resulting in further climate change.”
Economists and other professionals have expressed reservations about the implications of a permission restriction. Companies may easily move their drilling operations to private and state properties, according to University of Chicago assistant dean Ryan Kellogg.
Defenders of the administration argue that it is being realistic in the face of a 50-50 split in the Senate and doubts about whether the government can legally prohibit drilling on leases that have already been leased to corporations.
“It’s a lengthy game,” says the narrator. “You’ve got to placate some of those oil and gas state senators,” said Jim Lyons, an environmental consultant who served as deputy assistant secretary of the Interior under Barack Obama. “It means thousands of people will be able to return home to work. You can’t merely turn out the light.”