President Joe Biden s administration will gather industry, government and environmental officials later this month to discuss the federal government s plans for the future of oil drilling on U.S. lands and waters.
Information gleaned at the March 25 forum, which will be streamed live online, will help inform an interim report on the administration s review of federal oil and gas policies set for release in early summer, the Interior Department said Tuesday.
“The federal oil and gas program is not serving the American public well. It’s time to take a close look at how to best manage our nation’s natural resources with current and future generations in mind,” said Laura Daniel-Davis, the agency s principal deputy assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management.
A long-term ban on sales from the nation's vast, publicly-owned oil and gas reserves to address climate change would fulfill a campaign pledge from Democratic President Joe Biden.
A pump jack east of Carlsbad in Lea County in 2019. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
The U.S. Interior Department is appealing directly to the public for input on potential changes to policies governing leasing and permitting for oil and gas development on federal lands.
The department will host a virtual forum March 25 with representatives from industry, labor, environmental groups and more to gather feedback for an “interim report” to be released this summer, the department said Tuesday morning. The report will include initial findings on the government’s current energy programs and policies, with recommendations on ways to improve federal stewardship of public lands and waters as President Joe Biden’s administration works to transition the country to a clean-energy economy, said Laura Daniel-Davis, Interior’s principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management.
Moving quickly on the Biden administration’s renewable energy agenda, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed its environmental review of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind plan, clearing the path for the first truly commercial-scale U.S. offshore wind project.
Mar 10, 2021
WASHINGTON (AP) A huge wind farm off the Massachusetts coast is edging closer to federal approval, setting up what the Biden administration hopes will be a model for a sharp increase in offshore wind energy development along the East Coast.
The Vineyard Wind project, south of Martha’s Vineyard near Cape Cod, would create 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes in New England. If approved, the $2 billion project would be the first utility-scale wind power development in federal waters. A smaller wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island.
Vineyard Wind is significantly farther offshore than Cape Wind, a previous Massachusetts offshore wind project that famously failed amid opposition from the Kennedy family and businessman William Koch, among others, who considered it a bird-killing eyesore in their ocean views.