The Gulf of Mexico offshore lease sale has caused criticism of President Biden over climate change and the Alaska oil and gas project – a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice

Coming on the heels of the Alaska oil project, the Gulf of Mexico offshore lease sale renewed criticism of President Biden from environmental groups that note that his 2020 campaign promises included a climate plan “banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters.”

Environmental groups have already filed a lawsuit to try to stop the lease sale, saying Interior’s environmental analysis is flawed. They are not happy with the size and scope of the sale.

“There’s nothing in the IRA that required it to be so large,” said George Torgun, an attorney for Earthjustice, an environmental law group. It will double the size of Willow if it goes forward as planned. It’s going to lock in fossil fuel development in the Gulf for the next 50 years.”

The current lease sale would emit about 21.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide according to an analysis by the Biden administration.

“We’re really disappointed we didn’t see something lesser in scope, this is basically offering up most of the Gulf,” Torgun said. It is a massive lease sale.

Manchin, who helped spearhead the Inflation Reduction Act, specifically wrote into the law provisions that required Interior to hold new oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf and Cook Inlet in Alaska. There will be another sale in September.

Oil and Gas Leases in the Gulf of Mexico: Opposing a New Lease to Open the Waters for Oil and Natural Gas Exploration after the Inflation Reduction Act

The administration faced an outcry on social media and said that it had no options other than to approve the project. Biden said he had initially considered blocking the decision, which he described as a difficult one.

“My strong inclination was to disapprove of it across the board,” Biden said last week in Canada. “But the advice I got from counsel was that if that were the case, we may very well lose in court. Lose that case in court to the oil company.

The Gulf of Mexico auction comes as global oil markets are still in tumult, rife with investors uneasy about lingering impacts from the war in Ukraine and the threat of recession, said Bob McNally, an energy consultant and president of Rapidan Energy Group.

Most of the investment in oil is due to fundamental issues, according to the man who has been the main reason for not investing. It’s not because Joe Biden said no new leasing. The political factor is there, but it’s not the main reason holding them back.”

Fossil fuel energy companies secured access to 1.6 million acres of waters for oil and natural gas exploration at the auction that took place on Wednesday.

The administration says it was compelled to open the huge swath of Gulf waters to drilling because of a piece of legislation. The budget act coalesceed around a deal Democratic leaders reached with their conservative colleague Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, inserting requirements for new oil and gas leases.

The law required the Lease Sale 259 to be held no later than March 30, 2023. It adds that sections of the Inflation Reduction Act also bar Interior Secretary Deb Haaland from issuing a lease for offshore wind until her agency holds an offshore oil and gas lease sale, with at least 60 million acres offered.

In the sale, companies including Chevron and Exxon Mobil led the way with dozens of bids. Many of the blocks attracted only single offers; bids ranged from as low as $750 to millions of dollars.

The auction of oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico contradicts President Barack Obama’s commitments to climate change, and he may end his Five-Year Plan

The agency said that lessees of the sale would have to make compromises to mitigate adverse effects on protected species and to avoid conflicts with other ocean uses.

Coming in the wake of the Willow project, the auction in the Gulf contradicts the administration’s pledges to combat climate change, Woody Martin of the Sierra Club’s Delta Chapter in Louisiana told NPR.

Martin believes the U.S. will continue to depend on fossil fuel for a long time, and the consequences will be disastrous for the U.S. and global economies.

Adding that “it should not take an act of Congress to get us to this point,” the API said energy companies need more certainty to meet growing energy needs.

“Expanding dirty energy will only make the climate crisis worse and new leases for offshore oil and gas drilling must stop,” the Oceana Director said. “President Biden may claim his hands were tied on this sale because of the IRA’s mandate, but he still has the opportunity to make good on his promise to end new oil and gas leasing in his Five-Year Plan.”

The final plan is expected out in September and will be in effect in December, according to Haaland.

Haaland was queried about rumors the plan might not include any sales. Haaland said that she can’t decide before the planning process begins.