Post by account_disabled on Feb 28, 2024 9:59:53 GMT
In the US they invalidate the largest massive oil and gas lease in the nation's history
By relying on a seriously flawed analysis of the climate impact of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, they invalidate the massive oil and gas lease in the United States. A federal judge recently canceled the largest sale of offshore oil and gas leases in the country's history, ruling that the Biden administration violated federal law.
According to The Washington Post , the District Changsha Mobile Number List Court of Columbia's decision rejected some 687,965 hectares of oil and gas leases that the Biden administration did not actually want to sell.
Shortly after taking office, the president suspended new drilling on lands and waters owned by the federal government. But after a Louisiana judge lifted the moratorium, officials said they were forced to go through with the sale last November.
They invalidate the massive oil and gas lease, but auction the other part
The current North American administration carried out the auction four days after Biden promised world leaders ambitious climate action at the United Nations summit, held in Glasgow, Scotland.
Although up to 3,237,4851 hectares in the Gulf of Mexico had been offered for drilling, the Department of the Interior commercialized only a fraction of that amount. The sale netted nearly $192 million and became the most profitable offshore transaction since March 2019.
Given this, environmental defense organizations filed a lawsuit alleging that the sale was based on incorrect assumptions. In his sentencing, Judge Rudolph Contreras concluded that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had based his decision on a flawed analysis that miscalculated greenhouse gas emissions.
They invalidate the massive leasing of oil and gas in the face of crisis
The research, conducted under Trump, determined that climate impacts would be worse if the acreage was not sold because oil companies with lower environmental standards would increase their production overseas, leading to more emissions.
The model and set of assumptions that produced this result were “arbitrary and capricious,” Contreras wrote, reaching the same conclusion as the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and the District Court of Alaska in similar cases.
In the US they invalidate the largest massive oil and gas lease in the nation's history
The Court considers that the error of the Office of Ocean Energy Management was indeed a serious failure.
Rudolph Contreras, judge of the District Court of Columbia.
The ruling means that the Biden administration will have the opportunity to conduct a new environmental analysis to quantify the climate impacts of future oil and gas production.
In a statement, Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said:
Given the Louisiana court ruling, we were forced to move forward with the sale of 257 leases, based on the previous administration's environmental analysis and its decision to approve it.
We are reviewing the Court's decision regarding the deficiencies in that record. Our public lands and waters must be protected for generations to come.
We have documented serious deficiencies in the federal oil and gas program. Especially in the face of the climate crisis, we must take the time to make meaningful and long-overdue programmatic reforms. Our work will be guided by law, science and sound policy.
Melissa Schwartz, spokeswoman for the Interior Department.
Reactions to the failure
Climate activists said they hope the new assessment will lead to a different result. "We're confident that once they get the emissions modeling right, given the climate crisis we're in, they'll come to the decision that leasing doesn't make sense right now," said Brettny Hardy, an attorney at Earthjustice. who worked on the case.
By relying on a seriously flawed analysis of the climate impact of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, they invalidate the massive oil and gas lease in the United States. A federal judge recently canceled the largest sale of offshore oil and gas leases in the country's history, ruling that the Biden administration violated federal law.
According to The Washington Post , the District Changsha Mobile Number List Court of Columbia's decision rejected some 687,965 hectares of oil and gas leases that the Biden administration did not actually want to sell.
Shortly after taking office, the president suspended new drilling on lands and waters owned by the federal government. But after a Louisiana judge lifted the moratorium, officials said they were forced to go through with the sale last November.
They invalidate the massive oil and gas lease, but auction the other part
The current North American administration carried out the auction four days after Biden promised world leaders ambitious climate action at the United Nations summit, held in Glasgow, Scotland.
Although up to 3,237,4851 hectares in the Gulf of Mexico had been offered for drilling, the Department of the Interior commercialized only a fraction of that amount. The sale netted nearly $192 million and became the most profitable offshore transaction since March 2019.
Given this, environmental defense organizations filed a lawsuit alleging that the sale was based on incorrect assumptions. In his sentencing, Judge Rudolph Contreras concluded that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had based his decision on a flawed analysis that miscalculated greenhouse gas emissions.
They invalidate the massive leasing of oil and gas in the face of crisis
The research, conducted under Trump, determined that climate impacts would be worse if the acreage was not sold because oil companies with lower environmental standards would increase their production overseas, leading to more emissions.
The model and set of assumptions that produced this result were “arbitrary and capricious,” Contreras wrote, reaching the same conclusion as the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and the District Court of Alaska in similar cases.
In the US they invalidate the largest massive oil and gas lease in the nation's history
The Court considers that the error of the Office of Ocean Energy Management was indeed a serious failure.
Rudolph Contreras, judge of the District Court of Columbia.
The ruling means that the Biden administration will have the opportunity to conduct a new environmental analysis to quantify the climate impacts of future oil and gas production.
In a statement, Interior Department spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said:
Given the Louisiana court ruling, we were forced to move forward with the sale of 257 leases, based on the previous administration's environmental analysis and its decision to approve it.
We are reviewing the Court's decision regarding the deficiencies in that record. Our public lands and waters must be protected for generations to come.
We have documented serious deficiencies in the federal oil and gas program. Especially in the face of the climate crisis, we must take the time to make meaningful and long-overdue programmatic reforms. Our work will be guided by law, science and sound policy.
Melissa Schwartz, spokeswoman for the Interior Department.
Reactions to the failure
Climate activists said they hope the new assessment will lead to a different result. "We're confident that once they get the emissions modeling right, given the climate crisis we're in, they'll come to the decision that leasing doesn't make sense right now," said Brettny Hardy, an attorney at Earthjustice. who worked on the case.