Biden To Announce Ban On New Federal Oil And Gas Leasing On Wednesday - Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) US President Joe Biden is poised to impose a moratorium on new Federal oil and gas leasing Wednesday, a move likely to encounter stiff resistance from the fossil fuel industry, The Washington Post reported.

The White House has drafted documents that would pause new oil and gas auctions on federal land and water as the new administration reviews the program, the report said citing three people briefed on the matter. The moratorium would not affect existing leases, meaning drilling would continue on public land in the West as well as in the Gulf of Mexico, the report added.

The decision would deliver on one of Biden's boldest climate campaign pledges. During the campaign, he promised to ban "new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters," without specifying exactly what such a ban would entail.

Biden, who champions green or renewable energies, canceled the permit granted to the Keystone-XL Canada-US pipeline on his first day in office, citing environmental concerns.

The report said the president plans to outline steps Wednesday aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions and elevating the role of science in federal decision-making.

Other new policies include protecting 30 percent of federal land and water by the end of the decade and identifying climate change as a national security priority.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), reacting to Biden's planned moratorium on new federal oil and gas leasing, said that the move alone will damage domestic energy producers while benefiting those abroad.

"Restricting development on federal lands and waters is nothing more than an 'import more oil' policy," API President Mike Sommers said. "Energy demand will continue to rise - especially as the economy recovers - and we can choose to produce that energy here in the United States or rely on foreign countries hostile to American interests."

Fossil fuel leasing on federal and tribal land accounts for nearly a quarter of the country's annual carbon output. The drilling program also generated $11.7 billion in tax revenue for the federal, state, local and tribal governments last year, according to the Interior Department's Office of Natural Resources Revenue.