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Part of a sweeping executive order issued last week, the president has tasked the U.S. Interior Department with reviewing how much of a cut taxpayers get when companies drill on public lands. The current rate of 12.5% has stayed the same since the 1920s for oil and gas and the 1970s for coal. Biden wants those royalty rates "to account for corresponding climate costs," according to the order.
The review comes as the oil and gas industry continues to reel from 2020's historic drop in demand, which has companies pulling back from drilling on federal public lands in the West. The same executive order also places a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on public lands. Together the actions threaten fossil fuel-dependent economies around the region.