General
News
Biden Vowed To Ban New Drilling On Public Lands. It Won’t Be Easy.
According to the Washington Post, “One of Joe Biden’s boldest campaign pledges was to
ban ‘new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters,’ part of a sweeping agenda aimed at curbing greenhouse gases that are warming the planet and threatening life on Earth. Transforming that promise into reality, however, will be tough. The incoming
administration will face several legal and political hurdles if it seeks to halt new oil and gas permits on federal land and waters, given existing laws and the enormous sums that drilling royalties generate for the federal and state governments — including
Democratic-leaning states such as New Mexico and Colorado. But failure to do so is sure to become a flash point with environmental and youth activists within the Democratic Party, who helped elect him and have made climate a priority. Meanwhile, the Trump
administration, in a bid to help its allies in the oil and gas business before it leaves office, has embarked on an 11th-hour leasing spree to help those companies lock in rights to drill. It offered up 79 million acres of leases in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday,
selling nearly 518,000 acres. And it is rushing to auction off rights to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. In a recent interview, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said that Biden would not be able to halt new drilling
on public lands and waters until his first term ends. ‘If their intention is to end all leasing and permitting, they will find that that’s rife with conflicts, opposed by Democratic governors, and not perpetually legally sustainable.’ But Michael Brune, head
of the Sierra Club, one of the nation’s oldest and most influential environmental groups, said his members expect nothing less than a ban from the candidate they helped elect.” [Washington Post,
11/19/20
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Los Angeles Can Restrict Oil And Gas Drilling With Buffer Zones, City Attorney Says.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Local government meetings can be dry, drawn-out
affairs even during non-pandemic times. Nowadays they typically involve sitting at home and straining to hear a crackly audio feed, or watching a grainy video if you’re lucky. Still, I wasn’t going to miss this week’s meeting of the Los Angeles City Council’s
Energy, Climate Change and Environmental Justice Committee. There were two items on the agenda that caught my attention: one about shutting down a gas-fired power plant in a low-income community of color, and one dealing with public-health buffer zones around
oil and gas wells. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Both items offered illuminating windows into critical decisions California and the rest of the country must face as the climate crisis worsens. So I settled into
my mediocre office chair, turned my computer volume to the max and got ready to take notes. Here’s a rundown of what was discussed, why it matters and what might happen next. The meeting started with public comment, and all 28 commenters wanted to weigh in
on the same topic: A proposal to require buffer zones, or ‘setbacks,’ between oil and gas wells and homes, schools and hospitals. Setbacks are a hot topic, and not just in Los Angeles. Environmental justice activists have pointed to research suggesting that
living near oil and gas wells can have serious health consequences. People of color and low-income families are most at risk, as I wrote in August. A few local governments have adopted their own setback rules, most recently Ventura County. But California’s
oil industry has mostly managed to stave off setbacks — and lest anyone forget, L.A. is an oil town.” [Los Angeles Times,
11/19/20
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Trump Administration Pushes For Rollback Of Arctic Offshore Drilling Regulations.
According to The Hill, “The Trump administration is pushing ahead with a last-minute
attempt to ease safety regulations for offshore drilling in the Arctic. The proposal would roll back a number of regulations that were put in place specifically for the Arctic following the disastrous Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
‘It cites the unique condition in the Arctic as reasons to be relaxing the rules when it should be just the opposite. They shouldn’t be allowing drilling at all in Arctic — it’s too dangerous — but if it’s going to occurring at all it should procure under
heightened safety standards not relaxed ones,’ said Kristin Monsell with the Center for Biodiversity. Environmentalists warn it would be nearly impossible to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic. ‘The regulations were aimed at requiring operating procedures
that would better guard against an uncontrolled oil spill like the Gulf spill, because if such a spill happened in the remote, ice-covered, stormy Arctic, it could not be cleaned up and would be even worse than in the temperate, infrastructure-adjacent waters
of the Gulf,’ Erik Grafe with Earthjustice said in a statement to The Hill. The rule has little chance of being finalized. It faces a 60-day comment period after which the Department of the Interior must respond to comments before issuing a final rule. That
would put the onus on the incoming Biden administration to withdraw the rule — something the administration would need to justify, which Monsell said would be easy enough given conditions in the arctic. Still, others say the rule shows the types of policies
the outgoing Trump administration may have in mind if President Trump seeks another term in the future.” [The Hill,
11/19/20
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Invisible Menace: Methane Flares Scorching Birds At U.S. Landfills.
According to National Geographic, “In October, wildlife rehabilitators at the New Mexico
Wildlife Center took in a red-tailed hawk with puzzling injuries. The raptor’s wings, normally padded with thick, dark-brown feathers, were so badly burned that they looked skeletal. Its chest and head were also scorched. ‘It kind of looked like it ran through
fire,’ says Hilary DeVries, a wildlife rehabilitator at the center, located in Española. Staff thought the male bird had been electrocuted, perhaps by a power line. But he lacked entry or exit wounds, lesions, or sores—all signs of such an encounter. What
burned the bird, as the New Mexico rescuers soon found out, was methane flaring, a federally mandated practice for disposing of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, in landfills across the United States. Landfills use a device called a methane burner to convert
the gas into water and carbon dioxide, which traps less heat in the atmosphere than methane. But as the burner’s flames shoot out of a tall exhaust pipe, or stack, at heights of up to 30 feet, they remain colorless—and birds can fly directly into them without
warning. (Read why three billion birds have been lost in North America since 1970.) While the problem of burned birds, mostly birds of prey, is widespread—documented cases exist in dozens of states, including Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey,
and Colorado—there are no official counts of how many have been injured or killed. New Jersey’s cases have been more publicized, with several raptors treated at the state’s rescue centers. The Raptor Trust, based in Millington, New Jersey, has cared for at
least four red-tailed hawks exposed to methane flares in recent years, says executive director Chris Soucy. He calls methane gas injuries in birds ‘horrific’; although birds can regenerate most of their feathers through the process of molting, some are burned
so badly that it can take them two years to heal.” [National Geographic,
11/20/20
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An Unusual Oil-And-Gas Lease Sale.
According to Axios, “Yesterday’s Interior Department auction of Gulf of Mexico drilling leases was noteworthy because it’s the last before the arrival of President-elect Joe Biden,
who has pledged to thwart new fossil fuel development in federal lands and waters. Driving the news: The sale drew $121 million worth of winning bids, which is more than the $93 million netted in the prior sale last March. Sami Yahya of S&P Global Platts Analytics
said the sale produced slightly better-than-expected results in part because of ‘looming regulatory uncertainty that will come along a change of a U.S. administration.’ ‘The Biden administration discussed plans to ban drilling on federal lands, which may have
led some operators to jump at the chance of securing more blocks before the window becomes limited in the future,’ Yahya said in a note. Yes, but: Wood Mackenzie analyst Mfon Usoro said despite the looming restrictions, it wasn’t a ‘massive land grab.’ Companies
are still constrained by low prices and capital spending cutbacks. Also... ‘Companies in the region have existing drilling inventory to sustain them in the near term,’ Usoro said in a note. ‘The best blocks with the highest potential reserves are likely already
leased. As a result, we do not expect a potential ban on leasing to materially impact production in the region until the end of the decade.’ The big picture: Even pre-COVID, the onshore boom, modest prices and other forces had changed companies’ spending on
Gulf tracts. As I noted in 2018, we’re far from the salad days of Gulf lease sales, which have seen several billion dollars in total bids on some occasions over the years. The last billion-dollar sale was in 2013 — when high bids totaled $1.2 billion — while
a 2008 sale brought $3.7 billion in high offers.” [Axios, 11/19/20
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'Snake Oil Inc.': Colo. Agency Apologizes For Email Mistake.
According to E&E News, “Staff members at the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission accidentally sent emails this weekend to hundreds of oil and gas employees that included
made-up company names like ‘Snake Oil Inc.’ and ‘Here We Go Again.’ The regulator apologized for the emails, which CBS4 reported were accidentally sent when the staffers were testing a system for e-filing. The emails supposedly listed firms with hearings coming
up. Other company names included ‘Really Rich’ and ‘Bad Oil and Gas.’ ‘We apologize that some of the names used during this testing were not professionally chosen,’ a spokesperson said in a statement yesterday. ‘The employees involved in this situation have
had this addressed by their supervisors. This unfortunate incident does not reflect upon the quality of work that has been and will be conducted by COGCC for all its customers.’ Chelsie Miera, executive director of the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association,
was not amused. ‘As our entire economy is struggling, that they have time to make jokes and horrible comments about the hardworking women and men in our industry, it’s just sad,’ she said. Gov. Jared Polis (D) also criticized the agency. ‘This is completely
unacceptable. Whether you agree with everything the oil and gas industry does or not, in Colorado we treat everyone with honor, respect and professionalism,’ he said in a statement (Shaun Boyd, CBS4, Nov. 18).” [E&E News,
11/19/20 (=)]
Interior Slashes Arctic Oil Spill Regulations.
According to E&E News, “The Trump administration today proposed an overhaul of offshore oil and gas safety regulations in the Arctic, suggesting the removal of nearly half the provisions
penned four years ago when the Obama administration took a tough stance on drilling in the far northern seas. Officials said the new approach to regulating safe oil and gas development practices in areas like the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, off the northern
coast of Alaska, would spur development and keep the United States active in a geopolitical region that’s grown busier over the years. ‘As countries like Russia increase their presence in the Arctic — including the use of U.S. technologies to develop their
seabed resources — it is increasingly important to ensure that the United States has a strong presence in the Arctic [outer continental shelf],’ Deputy Interior Secretary Kate MacGregor said in a statement today. The regulations, as proposed by the outgoing
administration, would cut 29 of the 65 provisions in the Obama-era regulations. Interior would also revise and add provisions. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement did not say when the proposed rule would be published in the Federal Register,
and a copy wasn’t immediately available by press time. The Interior Department is in a rush to finalize high-priority decisions ahead of the January change in presidential administrations. It’s recently pushed through new oil and gas regulations for the Forest
Service and started the process to hold a first-ever oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The proposed Arctic oil regulations would have a 60-day public comment period following publication, making it unlikely they will survive once
President-elect Joe Biden takes office.” [E&E News,
11/19/20 (=)]
Trump Proposes Loosening Arctic Offshore Drilling Rules.
According to Politico, “The Trump administration said Thursday it will propose easing rules governing offshore oil drilling in the Arctic in a bid to weaken the environmental safeguards
before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Details: The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said it would change 29 out of the 65 regulations in the current version of its Arctic Exploratory Drilling Proposed Rule, though
it did not release the official text. The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal once Interior formally publishes the proposal in the Federal Register. ‘Our efforts to reform overly burdensome regulations continue to be careful, tailored and balanced,’
BSEE Director Scott Angelle said in a press release. According to a fact sheet Interior published, the changes would likely include lengthening the period of time during the year when companies are allowed to drill in the Arctic. Current regulations hold that
drilling must stop before seasonal ice formation in the Arctic. Another rule up for change is one that would require companies to keep a spare drilling rig close by to drill so-called ‘relief wells’ in case their projects experience trouble. Companies complain
that the requirement is too expensive, but environmental groups have countered that it would save valuable time in the event an existing well experiences pressure buildups that could cause a blowout. Context: Interior said it held a consultation meeting with
four members of the American Petroleum Institute in May, according to a government website. A month later it held a second meeting that included two members of environmental group The Wilderness Society and a member of Ocean Conservancy.” [Politico,
11/19/20 (=)]
Chad Ellwood
Senior Research Associate
Climate Action Campaign
202.448.2877 ext. 119