The Biden administration released its long-awaited five-year offshore oil and gas leasing plan on Friday a day after missing a June deadline. The Department of the Interior (DOI) plan included the ability for the federal government to conduct up to 11 lease sales off the coast of Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico over the five-year period between 2023-2028. However, the plan also proposed the federal government’s option not to conduct lease sales during the same time period. “From day one, President Biden and I have made clear our commitment to transitioning to a clean energy economy,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today, we are offering an opportunity for the American people to consider and provide input on the future of offshore oil and gas leasing. The time for the public to weigh in on our future is now.” The plan did not include potential sales in the Atlantic or Pacific, effectively blocking drilling on the East and West coasts. In the first version of the DOI plan, the Trump administration sought a total of 47 sales in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska. WHITE HOUSE REFUSES CLAIMS AS BIDEN ‘TELLS’ US OIL INDUSTRY: ‘THIS IS NOT PERSONAL’ Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, the federal government is required to issue offshore lease plans every five years that outline potential oil and gas lease sales. The current 2017-2022 plan expired on Thursday. Haaland had previously promised that the DOI would issue the plan by Thursday. The administration delayed the announcement without giving a reason. Home Secretary Deb Haaland speaks during a press conference on July 22, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File / AP Newsroom) “In this context, I am disappointed to see that ‘zero’ lease sales are even an option on the table,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Joe Manchin, DW.V., said in a statement. “There is already more than enough flexibility in the program to adjust sales later, which management previously took advantage of to cancel three sales earlier this year.” “Leasing programs are a critical element of American energy security,” he added. The current and previous plans, both floated by the Obama administration, included more than 10 offshore oil and gas lease sales each. In May, the DOI canceled the three remaining lease sales planned under the current plan, one of which spans more than a million acres in Cook Inlet off the coast of Alaska. While the administration held a Gulf of Mexico lease sale in the fall, it chose not to appeal a federal court ruling invalidating the sale over environmental objections. TOP DEMO TARGET TO FORCE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO CANCEL OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES “Now more than ever we need the government to implement energy policy that will advance energy affordability for Americans and advance our national security interests,” said National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito. “This proposed leasing plan is only one step in the process, and it is imperative that the Administration act quickly to finalize and implement the program as proposed, without abatement.” Gas prices are advertised at over six dollars a gallon in Los Angeles, California. ((AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) / AP Newsroom) NOIA, which represents offshore fossil fuel and wind developers, issued a report in March along with the American Petroleum Institute predicting that domestic oil production would decline, thousands of jobs would be lost and U.S. gross domestic product would shrink if the DOI is not issued a five-year replacement program. Environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers, however, urged the president to issue a five-year plan without scheduled leases. On Tuesday, 10 Democratic senators led by Sen. Bob Menendez, DN.J., wrote a letter to Haaland urging her to avoid the new hire. “While I’m obviously happy to see a significant reduction in the amount of new potential offshore leases compared to what the last administration proposed, I certainly don’t see it as a comforting pattern,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva. D-Ariz., he said in a statement after the plan was released Friday. “Despite my disappointment in leaving the door open to nearly a dozen new lease sales over the next five years, I take comfort in knowing that the Biden administration has made it clear that it will listen to frontline environmental justice communities and consult with tribes.” he continued. Former Acting Deputy Treasury Secretary Greg Zerzan discusses how Biden and his administration continue to push clean energy at the G7 as natural gas prices continue to soar on “Fox Business Tonight.” Shortly after taking office, President Biden signed an executive order halting new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters. But a federal court halted the policy in a June 2021 order. The plan released Friday is a “proposed program,” meaning the government is still required to hold a 90-day public comment period and issue a follow-up proposal before the plan is finalized. GET FOX BUSINESS IN ENGINE BY CLICKING HERE Meanwhile, the national average gasoline price hit $4.84 a gallon on Friday, near the all-time high of about $5 a gallon hit on June 14, according to AAA data. Republican lawmakers have blamed high pump prices on the Biden administration’s climate agenda and a decision not to hold as many lease sales as previous administrations.
