“Huge climate bomb”: U.S. auctions off oil and gas drilling leases in Gulf of Mexico after climate talks – “Coming in the aftermath of the climate summit, this is just mind boggling”

Map showing the area of the Gulf of Mexico covered by the U.S. oil and gas lease sale on 17 November 2021. Source: US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Graphic: The Guardian — Map showing the area of the Gulf of Mexico covered by the U.S. oil and gas lease sale on 17 November 2021. Source: US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Graphic: *The Guardian*

By Oliver Milman
17 November 2021

(The Guardian) – Just four days after landmark climate talks in Scotland in which Joe Biden vowed the US will “lead by example” in tackling dangerous global heating, the president’s own administration is providing a jarring contradiction – the largest ever sale of oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

The US federal government is on Wednesday launching an auction of more than 80m acres of the gulf for fossil fuel extraction, a record sell-off that will lock in years, and potentially decades, of planet-heating emissions.

The enormous size of the lease sale – covering an area that is twice as large as Florida – is a blunt repudiation of Biden’s previous promise to shut down new drilling on public lands and waters. It has stunned environmentalists who argue the auction punctures the US’s shaky credibility on the climate crisis and will make it harder to avert catastrophic impacts from soaring global heating.

Select countries' 2018 carbon dioxide emissions compared to projected emissions from oil and gas production over the life of the 17 November 2021 leases in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. Data: Country emissions from Climate Watch, projected lease emissions from Center for Biological Diversity. Note: In metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Projected emissions based on Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which allows leases to extend as long as they are producing. Graphic: The Guardian — Select countries’ 2018 carbon dioxide emissions compared to projected emissions from oil and gas production over the life of the 17 November 2021 leases in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. Graphic: *The Guardian*

“Coming in the aftermath of the climate summit, this is just mind boggling. It’s hard to imagine a more hypocritical and dangerous thing for the administration to do,” said Kristen Monsell, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s incredibly reckless and we think unlawful too. It’s just immensely disappointing.”

Even Biden’s Democratic allies have raised concerns.

“This administration went to Scotland and told the world that America’s climate leadership is back, and now it’s about to hand over 80m acres of public waters in the Gulf of Mexico to fossil fuel companies,” said Raul Grijalva, chair of the House natural resources committee. “[The] lease sale is a step in the wrong direction, and the administration needs to do better.”

Monthly federally approved oil and gas drilling permits, January 2017 - October 2021. Drilling permit approvals have not slowed under the Biden administration. Data: US Bureau of Land Management. Note: The monthly averages exclude the January of each president’s inauguration, during which two presidents hold office. Graphic: The Guardian — Monthly federally approved oil and gas drilling permits, January 2017 – October 2021. Drilling permit approvals have not slowed under the Biden administration. Graphic: *The Guardian*

There is no guarantee that all the leases will be taken up by oil and gas companies but the Department of the Interior, which oversees public lands and waters, has estimated there is as much as 1.12bn barrels of oil and 4.2tn cubic ft of gas available for extraction. A separate lease sale offered by the government in Alaska’s Cook Inlet will offer up another 192m barrels of oil and 301bn cubic ft of gas to drillers.

Combined, these leases would result in nearly 600m tons of planet-heating gases if fully developed over the next four decades, which is more than the total annual emissions of the UK.

The sale represents a “huge climate bomb”, according to Earthjustice, one of the green groups that has lodged a lawsuit claiming it lacks a proper environmental assessment. Biden has set a target for the US to cut its emissions in half this decade before getting to net zero emissions by 2050. [more]

US auctions off oil and gas drilling leases in Gulf of Mexico after climate talks