The US Department of the Interior has canceled three offshore oil and gas drilling lease sales, one in Alaska and two in the Gulf of Mexico. Millions of acres of coastal waters will no longer be sold and subject to fossil fuel exploitation as a result of the move. It also means the U.S. won't be holding any offshore lease sales this year, as those were the only ones on the docket. The proposed Cook Inlet OCS oil and gas lease sale 258 will not move forward due to lack of industry interest. The Department will not move forward with lease sales 259 and 261 in the Gulf of Mexico region because of delays due to factors including conflicting court rulings that impacted work on these proposed lease sales. The five-year offshore drilling program ends on June 30 and the Biden Administration has not announced any plans to replace it. Politicians and the oil industry are upset about it. The program has been tied to the issue of high fuel prices and any drill leases issued now would have no effect on domestic fuel availability. An executive from the fossil fuel lobby group told CBS that the lease cancellation is an example of the administration's lack of commitment to oil and gas development in the US. The Center for Biological Diversity said in an email that it was great news for the climate, communities and wildlife.
It has been a tough week on the climate beat. There are carbon bombs to worry about and fossil fuel industry deception. There are growing western water shortages. We are growing ever closer to exceeding some of the key benchmarks of warming.
On this fine Friday, Gizmodo recommends you take a moment to be happy that at least some fossil fuels will be in the ground for now. If we want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need them.
There have been many catastrophes in the Gulf of Mexico, where so much offshore drilling already takes place. Between 2002 and 2015, there were over two thousand oil spills off the coast of Gulf states. Fewer drill rigs, less oil to transport, and fewer future spills are all a result of no new leases.
The Lower Cook Inlet is a waterway bordered by the Kenai Peninsula and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. There are glaciers on all sides and a population of beluga whales. There will not be more offshore drilling there.
A long list of adverse environmental effects are listed in a draft environmental impact statement. None of that is going to happen.
It was legal tie-ups that led to the Gulf cancellation. A federal judge invalidated a November 2021 sale because the Department of Interior failed to adequately take climate change into account. There was an appeal by the Biden administration in a court battle over the social cost of carbon. According to an April congressional report, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ran out of time to plan and execute the sales before the June 30 deadline.
In Alaska, the industry just wasn't interested in bidding on the proposed lease sites. According to the New York Times, the Bureau of Ocean Management canceled lease sales in the Cook Inlet in 2007, 2008, and 2011.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Hilcorp is the only operator drilling in the Cook Inlet. Hilcorp has had numerous oil spills and gas leaks in the inlet from platforms and pipelines, and problems with trying to stop them from leaking due to ice and other issues, she told Gizmodo.
Despite this, Biden did not follow through on his promise to stop oil and gas drilling on federal lands. Oil and gas drilling continues in the U.S.'s offshore waters.
Monsell wrote that more must be done to save marine life and protect coastal communities from pollution.
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