The Biden administration, under fire from climate activists over its move to restart oil and gas leasing on federal lands, is seeking to shift blame to a court ruling as it seeks to navigate dueling climate and energy pressures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The administration has emphasized that its Friday decision to open up about 144,000 acres of publicly-owned lands for oil and gas drilling was caused by a court order \u2014 and has indicated in recent days that its preference would be to not hold any lease sales at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House Press Secretary\u00a0Jen Psaki\u00a0on Monday said the court ruling was \u201cforcing our hand\u201d and that President\u00a0Biden\u2019s\u00a0policy is to \u201cban additional leasing\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday\u2019s action\u2026was the result of a court injunction that we continue to appeal, and it\u2019s not in line with the president\u2019s policy, which is to ban additional leasing,\u201d Psaki said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked if new leases will undercut Biden\u2019s climate goals, Psaki reiterated that \u201cthese leases are not in line with our policy or the president\u2019s view.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Psaki remarks followed a tweet by\u00a0Interior Secretary\u00a0Deb Haaland\u00a0on Friday.\u00a0She said the action \u201cwas the result of a court injunction that we continue to appeal, and I have used my authority to reduce by 80 precent the areas to lease, impose stringent environmental safeguards, and ensure the American people receive their fair share.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The oil and gas leasing program will restart with\u00a0173 parcels of land, the administration said Friday. On Monday, it\u00a0revealed\u00a0that about 132,000 of the acres up for lease would be in Wyoming and auctioned off in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move generated push back from left-wing environmental advocates, who argued that the administration should try to limit drilling as much as possible \u2014 as well as industry and Republicans \u2014 who argued that the sale was too small and took issues with other modifications like higher fees for drillers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some observers have blamed the decision on the administration\u2019s desire to show it is doing something about high gas prices, even though\u00a0the new leases are not expected to have an immediate impact since it takes\u00a0an average of more than 4 years for production to begin. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think what\u2019s happened, frankly, is that the Biden administration is responding to pressure for new oil and gas development that has come about as a result of the war in Ukraine,\u201d said Mark Squillace, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the administration could have proposed an even smaller lease sale to minimize drilling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some also noted they are facing competing pressures, including from environmental activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a bit of a political tightrope to walk,\u201d said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities environmental group, which was pleased with some of the modifications the administration made to the sale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The June 2021\u00a0court order\u00a0that the Biden administration is blaming prevented the administration from \u201cimplementing\u201d a pause issued by the president on new oil and gas leases on public lands or waters.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On one of his first few days in office, Biden directed a pause in new leasing for parcels of land on which companies can bid to drill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pause was described as temporary and \u201cpending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n