Environmental Organizations Respond to Interior Department Announcement to Resume Drilling on Public Lands
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On April 15, 2022 the U.S. Department of Interior announced that they will resume leasing for oil and gas drilling on public lands. The announcement has angered many climate activists. Not only does the announcement go against Biden’s campaign promise to cut greenhouse emissions, they say, it also comes on the heels of an IPCC report with an urgent call to reduce emissions to avoid irreparable climate damage.
A 2016 report created by the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 23.7 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions are produced in fossil fuel production on Federal Lands.
According to a release penned by several leading environmental organizations including The Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity “Thousands of organizations and communities from across the United States have called on Biden to halt federal fossil fuel expansion and phase out production consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Spokespeople from environmental organizations commented on the announcement:
“We have heard a lot of rhetoric from President Biden and his administration about the need to take action on climate,” said Kyle Tisdel, climate and energy program director with the Western Environmental Law Center. “But not only is the administration not doing everything it could — it is not really doing anything. Climate action was a pillar of President Biden’s campaign, and his promises on this existential issue were a major reason the public elected him. Achieving results on climate is not a matter of domestic politics. It’s life and death.”
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“The Biden administration’s claim that it must hold these lease sales is pure fiction and a reckless failure of climate leadership,” said Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s as if they’re ignoring the horror of firestorms, floods and megadroughts, and accepting climate catastrophes as business as usual. These so-called reforms are 20 years too late and will only continue to fuel the climate emergency. These lease sales should be shelved and the climate-destroying federal fossil fuel programs brought to an end.”
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“Right now, fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters makes up a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions at a time scientists are saying we must move urgently to cut emissions by at least half. Not only does it devastate our planet, it’s a handout to Big Oil at the expense of average Americans, who will bear the brunt of its societal, health and financial ramifications,” said Dan Ritzman, Lands Water Wildlife director at the Sierra Club. “We urge the Biden administration to take advantage of this historic opportunity to make good on campaign promises, fulfill a global commitment to acting on climate, and serve American communities by phasing out oil and gas production on public lands and oceans.”
On Twitter, Sierra Club noted one silver lining in that the lease sales will ensure Tribal consultation and the avoidance of permanently protected areas and sites important to Tribes.
Lease sales will fortunately ensure Tribal consultation and community input and will avoid any permanently protected areas and sites important to Tribes.
— Sierra Club (@SierraClub) April 15, 2022
