Climate Change Weekly #384
In the waning days of President Donald Trump’s term of office, the administration has finalized a series of actions and rules that will complicate if not prevent incoming President Joe Biden from easily imposing radical climate proposals on the country.
The Trump administration offered oil and gas leases on public lands in Alaska (January) and California (December), and despite today’s relatively low oil and gas prices, companies bid on the leases and won. In the Alaskan case, a federal court refused to halt the leases, noting drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), after nearly four decades of wrangling, was authorized by a federal law. These actions will complicate Biden’s ability to keep his promise of ending new oil and gas leases on federal land.