Lisa Frank
Executive Director, Environment America; Vice President and D.C. Director, The Public Interest Network
STATEMENT: Rush to drill would wreck lands, ocean and climate
Media Contacts
WASHINGTON – The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is expected to consider Wednesday new legislation from Sens. Joe Manchin and John Barrasso that would increase fossil fuel mining and drilling on public lands and in the ocean while shortening review timelines for certain renewable energy and transmission projects.
Environment America’s Executive Director Lisa Frank released the following statement:
“This bill’s approach to our energy future is akin to your doctor giving you a gym pass but mandating you smoke two packs of cigarettes before using it. Requiring millions of acres of land and waters be leased to fossil fuel companies before building clean solar and wind projects is wrongheaded and unnecessary. We shouldn’t chain renewable energy development to more drilling, more oil spills and more pollution.
“The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee should reject this rush to drill and instead work to strengthen our core environmental protections, improve energy efficiency and build the renewable energy we need without a hefty dose of fossil fuel pollution.”
If enacted, the Energy Permitting and Reform Act of 2024 would:
- Require the Secretary of the Interior to offer a minimum of 2 million acres of public lands for oil and gas drilling in the year prior to issuing right of way for solar or wind projects.
- Exempt many oil and gas projects from safety and clean-up requirements, extend the length of drilling permits, speed up the process for approving drilling projects and limit opportunities for public challenges.
- Enable the coal industry to claim more public land for mining operations. Coal mining produces deadly air pollution and toxic waste.
- Require annual offshore drilling lease sales of at least 60 million acres, an area 70 percent larger than the state of Florida.
- Speed up approval of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) export facilities, automatically grant some permits, limit the time and information the Department of Energy can use to assess whether such projects are in the public interest and shorten opportunities for public comment and legal challenges.
- Set goals for renewable energy projection on public lands and for offshore wind, require annual offshore wind lease sales and speed up permitting for renewable energy projects.
- Make changes to the permitting of transmission lines, interregional transmission planning and the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in rulemaking.