oil and gas

Environmentalists Push for Moratorium on Oil and Gas Leasing

The Obama administration stopped the leasing of federally owned coal mining companies on January 15, pending the completion of a programmatic environmental impact statement analyzing how the decision making process factors in environmental and public health concerns. On Wednesday, WildEarth Guardians, an anti-coal activist group part of a bigger “Keep it in the Ground” movement, petitioned the Department of the Interior (DOI) to institute a similar moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal lands. Environmental groups argue that climate change needs to be considered when making leasing decisions on public lands.

The energy sector believes this push by the environmentalists is extreme, and argue that the government could lose a billion dollar revenue stream. Republicans, including Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have promised to fight the coal decision. Meanwhile, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) have introduced legislation which would stop new leases and the renewal of all nonproducing leases for fossil fuels on federal lands and halt offshore leasing activities.