Dept. of Interior stalls oil and gas production over climate concerns
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- President Joe Biden and his administration have once again halted the sales of federal oil and gas leases. The Department of Interior is pausing any new permits to weigh the cost of climate damage in its decisions.
The fight over federal energy reserves has felt like a carousel in the courthouse. Twice presidential injunctions have been blocked by Louisiana federal judges, but other federal judges or agencies have intervened.
"We thought once we won in federal court, when we won a month or so ago, I guess we thought it was over," Louisiana Oil & Gas Association (LOGA) President Mike Moncla admitted News 10 after the freeze on new oil and gas sales.
He said this moratorium is the latest bump in a turbulent trip LOGA has gone through during the Biden Administration from, "Day one canceling the keystone pipeline, telling banks to not invest in oil and gas, banning drilling on federal lands, not allowing sales to go through."
Moncla added, "All of that is going to have an effect on the price of oil, and if the price of oil goes up, the price of gasoline goes up."
According to LOGA, one out of every nine Louisianians work in the oil and gas sector, there are 65% fewer Gulf of Mexico wells producing than there were 10 years ago, and more recently offshore production has declined about 15% per year.
"So it's a tough pill to swallow when you've got a government picking winners and losers," Moncla concluded.
News 10 reached out to the Department of Interior for a statement, and were sent this:
"On the filing regarding Louisiana v. Biden: As outlined in a brief filed by the Department of Justice today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, the Department of the Interior confirmed that certain activities associated with its fossil fuel leasing and permitting programs are impacted by the February 11, 2022, injunction in Louisiana v. Biden. The Interior Department has assessed program components that incorporate the interim guidance on social cost of carbon analysis from the Interagency Working Group, and delays are expected in permitting and leasing for the oil and gas programs."
"The Interior Department continues to move forward with reforms to address the significant shortcomings in the nation’s onshore and offshore oil and gas programs. Specifically, the Department is committed to ensuring its programs account for climate impacts, provide a fair return to taxpayers, discourage speculation, hold operators responsible for remediation, and more fully include communities, Tribal, state and local governments in decision-making.”
Melissa Schwartz, Communications Director at the U.S. Department of the Interior
Attorney General Jeff Landry has led the opposition in court against disruption to the oil and gas industry. In a statement provided to News 10, Landry argued, "It's really just a big lie they have been frustrating the leasing process from the beginning all while the poor and the middle class suffer under inflation."