Friends of the Earth Pushes for Climate Action Following BLM’s Final Oil and Gas Leasing Rule
WASHINGTON – Today the Bureau of Land Management announced its final rule to reform oil and gas leasing on federal lands. While the rule takes important steps to address some oil and gas subsidies in the leasing program, including increasing bonding requirements so industry is on the hook for cleanup instead of taxpayers, it fails to address climate despite nearly a quarter of U.S. emissions resulting from fossil fuel extraction on public lands.
Nicole Ghio, Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement:
While we support BLM’s steps to curb financial giveaways to Big Oil, this rule fails to confront the massive tide of climate emissions stemming from its leasing program. If Interior intends to manage our public lands for the public good, then it must account for the future generations living under the threat of catastrophic climate change. Interior must do what the science demands and end the expansion of fossil fuels.
Communications contact: Brittany Miller, [email protected], (202) 222-0746