"The president is under pressure to bring down gas prices, but any new drilling would be years away. The fees that companies pay would rise sharply."
"WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced on Friday that it would resume selling leases for new oil and gas drilling on public lands, but would also raise the federal royalties that companies must pay to drill, the first increase in those fees in more than a century.
The Interior Department said in a statement that it planned next week to auction off leases to drill on 145,000 acres of public lands in nine states. They would be the first new fossil fuel leases to be offered on public lands since President Biden took office.
The move comes as President Biden seeks to show voters that he is working to increase the domestic oil supply as prices surge in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But it also violates a signature campaign pledge made by Mr. Biden as he sought to assure climate activists that he would prioritize reducing the use of fossil fuels.
“And by the way, no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period,” Mr. Biden told voters in New Hampshire in February 2020."
Coral Davenport reports for the New York Times April 15, 2022.
SEE ALSO:
"Biden Shrinks U.S. Land Open for New Oil and Gas Drilling" (Bloomberg Environment)
"Biden Increases Oil Royalty Rate, Scales Back Lease Sales" (AP)
"Interior Department To Resume Oil And Gas Leasing, Charge Higher Fees" (Washington Post)
"U.S. To Resume Oil, On Public Gas Drilling Land Despite Biden Campaign Pledge" (Reuters)
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