© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Department of Interior Reexamining Federal Fossil Fuel Programs

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland says the Biden Administration is considering ideas from political leaders on both sides of the aisle in order to rethink the management of energy and minerals on public lands.

“There is no doubt that oil, gas and coal energy from our public lands and oceans have helped build our economy and power our nation,” Haaland said. “Fossil fuels will continue to play a major role in America for years to come. But too often, the extraction of resources has been rushed to meet the false urgency of political timetables, rather than with careful consideration for the impacts of current or future generations.”

Haaland noted the increase in leasing permits given out under the Trump administration, an action she says did not benefit the American people.

“The potential impacts to people water, wildlife and climate were deliberately ignored, something that courts continue to address,” Haaland said. “While some corporations profited, taxpayers were shortchanged, and some American’s voices were not heard.”

While the minimum starting bid to lease an acre of public land is currently set at $2, the price has historically been driven up by competing companies. Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship President David Jenkins says the increase in leases has led to a lack of competition for land.

“They were just making so much acreage available so fast, that you didn't have that demand,” Jenkins said. “And you didn't have people like driving up those prices by betting against each other in a lot of cases.” 

President Biden put a temporary pause on authorizing new oil and gas leases on public lands and offshore waters in January in order to conduct a comprehensive review of the program.

It’s an action the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association has called into question, writing in a press release that oil and gas leases are essential to the health and stability of communities in New Mexico.

Aztec Well Family Services Executive Vice President Jason Sandel highlighted how his New Mexico based business has been impacted by the executive order.

“We felt them, the impacts, immediately. One of our drilling rigs had been called into action, just about the time of the swearing in of President Biden, and almost immediately we had to lay that rig down,” Sandel said. “We had called employees in, 25 people, to go out and staff this rig, and there were 100 more associated jobs, all called into action and then laid down.”

While Sandel does not agree with Biden’s Executive Order, he says he does appreciate the administration’s commitment to fighting climate change. He stressed that mission does not have to mean the demise of the oil and gas industry.

“It's a matter of embracing the all of the above approach as has been communicated by our governor and others, rather than attempting to, as I said, ‘Put the death nail in oil and gas while renewables continue to grow,’” Sandel said. “And then working together in that collaborative fashion, to ensure that we've got stronger environmental protections that provide assurances that our development of natural resources is being done in the right and fair way.”

Critics say selling new leases is only one issue that must be addressed. Royalty rates on public lands have been set at 12.5% for almost a century—an extremely low rate.  The Center for Western Priorities says it’s time for an update.

In a statement on its website, the Center says, oil and gas companies stockpile leases, but fail to produce on many of them. The Center notes, the cost to leave lands idle is only $1.50 per acre annually, incentivizing speculation on public lands.

And they say, when companies hit hard times, they can abandon oil and gas wells, leaving taxpayers with the environmental risks and bills to clean up the mess.

Madison Staten was a Multimedia Reporter for KRWG Public Media from 2020-2022.