bypasses the administration's concerns about emissions and guarantees new drilling opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. The legislation was crafted to secure backing from a top recipient of oil and gas donations, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, and was shaped in part by industry lobbyists., it also buoys oil and gas interests by mandating leasing of vast areas of public lands and off the nation’s coasts.
The law reinstates within 30 days the 2,700-square miles of Gulf leases that had been withheld. It ensures companies like Chevron will have the chance to expand and overrides the concerns of U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras that the government was “barreling full-steam ahead” without adequately considering global emission increases.
Communities near polluting industrial plants will continue to suffer if the oil and gas industry remains vibrant, said Beverly Wright, executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. She worries that incentives in the law for technology that captures carbon from industrial processes could alsoIn Louisiana’s St.
“The industry is in constant need — almost like a treadmill — of lease sales,” said Noe, an attorney at Holland & Knight who represented offshore oil and gas companies. Noe said demand for oil and gas won’t decline immediately and Gulf drilling brings jobs and more energy security.