The Future of Environmental Activism: A Spotlight on the Gulf of Mexico
The Biden administration's controversial decision to auction off 73 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to the oil and gas industry sparks the next wave of green activism, raising concerns about the environmental impact Last sale until 2025
The Biden administration has announced plans to auction off approximately 73 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to the oil and gas industry. This will be the second large-scale lease sale this year and the last one scheduled until 2025. These auctions, which were a regular practice during the Trump and Obama administrations, have now become a major point of contention and litigation under President Biden.
During his 2020 campaign, Biden promised to stop drilling in federal lands and waters, but legal action reversed a drilling pause implemented by his administration. The Inflation Reduction Act connected oil and gas lease sales with offshore wind, creating potential challenges for Biden's climate agenda without relying on oil and gas drilling.
According to top White House officials, Biden has overseen a significant increase in clean energy. Figures from the White House revealed that investments in manufacturing facilities have made the largest contribution to GDP growth in around sixty years, with $628 billion announced in the United States under Biden's leadership.
"According to Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, investment in climate and clean energy is surpassing overall investment, which has shown significant strength," Brainard told reporters on Tuesday. Despite this, President Biden has overseen a surge in oil production, with US oil exports reaching a new record this year, surpassing even the exports under former President Donald Trump. As a result, some climate activists are cautioning that this trend could jeopardize the president's support among young voters leading up to the 2024 election.
Michele Weindling, Sunrise political director, told CNN that these drilling projects have a significant impact on our ability to transition away from fossil fuels on the necessary scale. She expressed concern that the administration is losing credibility with young voters as President Biden attempts to navigate both lanes. As we approach the end of 2023, activists and environmental organizations are turning their attention to the Gulf of Mexico, a region heavily concentrated with US offshore drilling. Additionally, there are growing concerns about a proposed massive liquified natural gas project, known as CP2, which would involve shipping US gas to other countries.
Ali Zaidi, the National Climate Adviser at the White House, informed the press that President Biden has embraced the climate crisis in response to the demands of young people by prioritizing both job creation and justice. Zaidi emphasized that the urgency for more action is evident in the scientific evidence of climate change, stressing the need for relentless efforts to address the pressing issue.
White House officials faced questioning about the reconciling of significant new investments in clean energy with the record-high levels of US oil production, which contradicts President Biden's climate objectives.
"The US has been actively increasing its production of various types of energy," Zaidi explained. "As a part of our comprehensive climate strategy, we must transition away from fossil fuels on a global scale."
A contentious lease sale
Wednesdays oil and gas lease sale was delayed for months over the discovery of the Rices whale, a new and endangered species of whale in the Gulf of Mexico.
Two years ago, a whale was discovered in the Gulf, prompting the Biden Interior Department to initially reduce the size of its oil and gas lease sale in an effort to protect the whale's habitat and implement slower boat speeds in certain areas. However, after a court ruling, the original acreage of 73 million acres was reinstated.
The Gulf of Mexico serves as the focal point for America's offshore oil and gas industry and a new study from the University of Michigan has found that it is polluting at a much higher rate than previously believed. Researchers discovered that the climate impact of oil and gas drilling is twice as large as official government estimates, largely due to high levels of methane - a potent greenhouse gas more than 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in its first two decades in the atmosphere. Methane is the primary component of natural gas.
Environmental organizations are making efforts to halt this lease sale and a comparable one that took place in March. Despite the Inflation Reduction Act linking oil and gas auctions to offshore wind lease sales, environmental attorneys argue that the extensive acreage could be altered by the Biden administration.
"There's absolutely nothing in there that mandated a lease sale of this size in the gulf," George Torgun, a senior attorney at environmental law group Earthjustice, told CNN. "We are perpetuating fossil fuel production for many decades to come, which is the opposite of what we should be doing."
Environmental organizations in the Gulf region and across the United States are advocating for the Biden administration to refrain from endorsing new export facilities for America's plentiful liquefied natural gas destined for foreign markets. They argue that this practice will contribute to increased US emissions in the long term. Raleigh Hoke, campaigns director for the advocacy group Healthy Gulf, emphasized the importance of moving away from the use of dirty energy sources, specifically methane gas, despite industry claims.
Torgun mentioned that the recent heatwaves in the Atlantic Ocean have been included in the group's legal arguments against further oil and gas drilling. "It definitely influenced our case after an eventful summer in the US," Torgun stated. "It was a summer of record-breaking climate events in the US and globally."
