Companies simply could shift onto private and state lands and keep drilling, said University of Chicago deputy dean Ryan Kellogg. “The result of that will be continued and increasing development of fossil fuels on public lands, which means more climate change.”Įconomists and other experts have been skeptical about how much impact a permit ban would have. “Every indication is they have no plans of actually fulfilling their campaign promise,” said Mitch Jones, policy director for the environmental group Food & Water Watch. They contend the administration could take executive action that would stop further permits but has caved to Republican pressure. The last time so many were issued was fiscal year 2008, amid an oil boom driven by crude prices that reached an all-time high of $140 per barrel that June.ĭecisions on about 4,700 drilling applications remained pending as of June 1, which means approvals are likely to continue at a heavy pace as officials work through a backlog left over from the Trump administration, said Fawcett, the industry analyst.Įnvironmentalists who share the administration’s goals on climate have expressed growing frustration as prospects for a ban on drilling fade. If the recent trends continue, the Interior Department could issue close to 6,000 permits by the end of the year.
The data obtained by AP from a government database is subject to change because of delays in transmitting data from Interior field offices to headquarters.
Approvals have since rebounded to a level that exceeds monthly numbers seen through most of Trump’s presidency. The pace dropped when Biden first took office, under a temporary order that elevated permit reviews to senior administration officials.
And in December, Trump’s last full month in office, agency officials approved more than 800 permits - far more than any prior month during his presidency.
Under former President Donald Trump, a staunch industry supporter, the Interior Department reduced the time it takes to review drilling applications from a year or more in some cases, to just a few months.Ĭompanies rushed to lock in drilling rights before the new administration. Interior officials declined further comment on permits issued under Biden. “Gas and oil production will continue well into the future and we believe that is the reality of our economy and the world we’re living in,” Haaland told Colorado Republican Rep. She said during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing last month that there was no “plan right now for a permanent ban.” Haaland has sought to tamp down Republican concern over potential constraints on the industry. oil production is going to continue to rebound.” “He is definitely backing off taking drastic action that would rock the market. “Those easy wins don’t necessarily have huge impacts on the market today,” Fawcett said. “He’s walking the tightrope,” said energy industry analyst Parker Fawcett with S&P Global Platts, noting that Keystone and ANWR came without huge political costs because they were aimed at future projects. Any attempt to limit petroleum production could push gasoline prices even higher and risk souring economic recovery from the pandemic. oil production.įurther complicating Biden’s climate agenda is a recent rise in gasoline prices to $3 a gallon ($0.79 a liter) or more in many parts of the country. But the steps taken by the administration to date on fossil fuels are more modest, including a temporary suspension on new oil and gas leases on federal lands that a judge blocked last month, blocked petroleum sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and cancellation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.īecause vast fossil fuel reserves already are under lease, those actions did nothing to slow drilling on public lands and waters that account for about a quarter of U.S.