The Biden administration admitted in a leaked memo that it was prioritizing climate goals over “energy security.”
The Interior Department on Friday accidentally leaked an internal memo that revealed the Biden administration rejected a proposal to agree to produce ‘more security force’ to prioritize the climate agenda.
Fox News reported:
Former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton recommended late last year that, as part of its climate agenda, the Department of the Interior (DOI) proceed with higher royalty fees for the sale of oil and gas leases spanning 958,202 acres. Cook Inlet off the coast of Alaska, according to a memo obtained by Fox News Digital. DOI Assistant Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis ultimately signed off on the recommendation.
“If the Cook Inlet prospect is developed, there will be additional government revenue and greater energy security for the State of Alaska, especially if the development of natural gas resources in Cook Inlet improves the long-term supply challenges facing the Anchorage region,” Lefton wrote in the memo.
“However, due to the serious challenges the nation faces from climate change and impacts [greenhouse gasses] From fossil fuels, BOEM does not recommend this option because it does not include an appropriate surcharge to account for those impacts,” he continued.
Lefton specifically recommended that the federal government charge drillers with a royalty fee of 18.75% as opposed to the alternative of 16.67%, which he said would attract more bids and “more likely to facilitate rapid and orderly development. [offshore] resources.”
Daniel-Davis said in her decision document — published in November at Lefton’s recommendation — that she chose the 18.75% fee “because this rate represents the most reasonable balance of environmental and economic considerations for the American public.” He did not mention an alternative that would produce greater energy security, as highlighted in the memo.
BOEM finally held an auction called Lease Sale 258 on December 30. The sale drew just one bid, valued at $63,983, for a single 2,304-acre tract, according to federal records.
In May, the White House canceled Lease Sale 258, which had been proposed under the Trump administration, in a surprise decision that was immediately criticized by the fossil fuel industry and Republican lawmakers. However, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) administration had to reverse the decision and put the sale on hold until the end of 2022.
Manchin criticized the Biden administration for putting its climate agenda ahead of energy security.
“The Department of the Interior erroneously posted an internal memo to Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Laura Daniel Davis on the Cook Inlet Oil and Gas Lease Sale 258 mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Senator Manchin (D-WV), who voted for the Inflation Reduction Act. .
“I am appalled by its content, which makes it clear that this administration is literally putting their fundamental climate agenda ahead of the needs of the people of Alaska and the United States,” Manchin said.
