Biden Halts Oil and Gas Leasing in a Slew of New Climate Actions

The president also set a goal of conserving 30 percent of the country鈥檚 land and water by 2030 and took steps to boost the clean-energy economy.

President Joe Biden took a highly anticipated step on Wednesday toward fulfilling a bold but controversial campaign promise: ending oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters. 

The halt on leasing is among the most attention-grabbing measures, but it鈥檚 not likely to be the most consequential item in announced by the White House as part of the new administration鈥檚 efforts to rein in climate change. Included in them is another campaign pledge to conserving at least 30 percent of the nation鈥檚 land and seas by 2030鈥攕upporters call the idea 30 by 30. Biden鈥檚 orders also establish a White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy; firmly plant climate considerations in national security and foreign policy; and create a government-wide initiative to promote environmental justice, among other steps. 

鈥淚n my view, we鈥檝e already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis and we can鈥檛 wait any longer,鈥 Biden said before signing the orders. 鈥淲e see it with our own eyes, we feel it, we know it in our bones, and it鈥檚 time to act.鈥

Environmental advocates welcomed the administration鈥檚 latest moves after four years of federal climate denial and inaction. 鈥淭his is the single biggest day for climate action in more than a decade,鈥 said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, in a press release. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled that this administration is taking a whole of government approach that puts bold climate action, clean energy, and environmental justice at the heart of their domestic and foreign policy agenda.鈥

The leasing pause is a striking departure from the Trump administration, during which the Interior Department offered up more than 25 million acres of public lands for lease, along with more than 78 million acres offshore. Energy companies bought 5.6 million acres of those onshore leases and 5 million acres offshore, according to Interior. Among them were nine leases covering 440,000 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that the Trump administration finalized on its last full day in office after a sale that raised far less money for the federal government than pro-industry politicians had projected. 

The government鈥檚 approach to leasing has serious implications for climate change because nearly one-quarter of the country鈥檚 emissions come from fossil fuel activity on public lands. Energy development on federal property also has significant impacts on wildlife, and is a major factor, for example, in the decline of Greater Sage-Grouse populations across the West. 

鈥淗itting pause on oil and gas leasing is a crucial first step toward reforming a rigged and broken system that for too long has put oil and gas lobbyists ahead of the American people,鈥 said Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director at the Center for Western Priorities, in a press release. 

However, this initial step doesnt go as far as the outright ban on leasing and permitting that Biden campaigned on, and it won鈥檛 have much immediate effect on oil and gas production, experts say. It halts new leases while Interior conducts a close review of federal leasing and permitting practices, but it does not stop active drilling or address leases and permits that the government has already issued. Federal leases give their holders 10 years to start producing oil and gas, and they can be renewed as long as the fuels keep flowing. Energy companies covering 26 million acres on land and 12 million acres on water and hold around 7,700 approved but unused permits to drill. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 big news, just because of the political nature of this, but in terms of its impact on oil and gas leasing on public lands, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 that significant,鈥 says Mark Squillace, a professor of natural resources law at the University of Colorado. The bigger impact, he says, could come after Interior鈥檚 review if the department opts to make it harder for companies to extend leases, or increases the fees they pay for using public lands. 

Nevertheless, the blowback from the fossil fuel industry was swift. The American Petroleum Institute said in a press release that the pause 鈥渁ppears to be a first step toward a policy of banning natural gas and oil development on federal lands and waters.鈥 Before the workday ended on Wednesday, the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies, , alleging that Biden鈥檚 executive order exceeds his authority and violates federal public-lands laws. 

But Hannah Wiseman, a law professor at Penn State University and an expert on oil and gas policy, says the administration is likely on safe legal ground. The Mineral Leasing Act requires quarterly lease sales for eligible lands, but it gives the Interior secretary discretion not to lease for a variety of reasons, she says, and nothing in the law prohibits a moratorium. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 simply not in there,鈥 she says. 

If halting leasing was largely a symbolic move, other of Biden鈥檚 actions Wednesday are likely to play a major role in his administration鈥檚 effort to eliminate carbon emissions economy-wide by 2050. He called on the Interior Department to identify ways to double offshore wind energy by 2030, for instance, and directed federal agencies to purchase electric vehicles鈥攁 significant step, given the government鈥檚 of nearly 650,000 autos. He also ordered the government to produce, by April 22鈥擡arth Day, when Biden announced he鈥檒l host an international climate summit鈥攁 formal emissions-reduction target as part of its renewed participation in the Paris climate agreement. And he established a working group to steer federal resources toward creating new jobs and revitalizing communities whose economies have depended on fossil fuels. 

In addition, Biden signaled that his administration will tap into the power of the nation鈥檚 forests, farms, and natural areas in fighting and adapting to climate change. By one oft-cited measure, roughly 12 percent of the country鈥檚 land area and about 26 percent of its ocean is currently protected. Conserving 30 percent鈥攂oth as protected areas on public lands and by working with landowners鈥攚ill soak up more carbon, help wildlife adapt to a changing climate, and protect more habitat to confront the staggering loss of biodiversity, proponents say. Scientists at least 30 percent of the entire planet, and more than 50 nations to do their part. 

The new 30-by-30 directive calls on federal agencies to produce a report within 90 days that lays out a plan for how to reach the goal. 鈥淎t a time when one-third of our wildlife are threatened with extinction, and sage grouse populations in particular have been on a precipitous decline, this bold plan will conserve and restore critical wildlife habitat while creating jobs and boosting rural economies,鈥 said Tracy Stone-Manning, associate vice president for public lands at the National Wildlife Federation, in a press release.

Biden鈥檚 orders also give agency officials 90 days to come up with a Civilian Climate Corps Initiative. In this modern answer to the Civilian Conservation Corps created during the Great Depression, young workers will restore habitat, plant trees, improve outdoor recreation access, and more. The program will 鈥渕obilize the next generation of conservation and resilience workers and maximize the creation of accessible training opportunities and good jobs,鈥 the White House said.