Hawley Slams Biden Interior Dept. For Ending Fossil Fuel Leases, Destroying U.S. Energy Independence
On 11/25/2023, Senator Josh Hawley questioned Nada Wolff Culver, the Principal Deputy Director of Interior Dept. Hawley Slams Biden Interior Dept. For Ending Fossil Fuel Leases, Destroying U.S. Energy Independence.
Hawley: Finally for me, Miss Culver, if I could just ask you, according to the numbers that I have, the Department of the Interior issued only 120 new oil and gas leases in fiscal year 2022. That’s compared to over 1,800 leases in fiscal year 2019. Just to put that in terms of acreage, in 2022, the amount of new acres leased was 75,000. That compares to 2.4 million new acres leased in fiscal year 2019. So, huge disparities. But am I right in thinking that you oppose any new oil and gas leases on Federal Land? Thanks.
Witness: Thanks for the opportunity to respond to that question. We are currently conducting regular lease sales and complying with the Inflation Reduction Act.
Hawley: On that topic, you personally have criticized even these, from my point of view, pretty paltry new oil and gas leases. Is that right?
The BLM is continuing to conduct quarterly lease sales and issue new oil and gas leases.
Hawley: Well, I’m just looking at an email that was obtained from a FOIA request of yours that’s been published in the Press. I think yesterday, in which a congressman from Arizona says there ought to be no new oil and gas leases, and you respond to that and say, “That’s an excellent response.” Um, I’m so glad you raised that.
Witness: The part of the email that I was discussing was the Chairman’s note that conducting oil and gas leasing under the current system had significant flaws both for environmental reasons and fiscal returns. And that’s something that we’ve been working on at the Department of the Interior at the Bureau of Land Management, and consistent again with many of the helpful provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act with the leadership of Chairman Manchin.
Hawley: I was just confused because his statement, the congressman’s statement, came as a criticism of the Secretary of the Interior announcing some additional oil and gas leases, and he criticized that. And you said that you agreed with them. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on inside the department.
Witness: No problem. As I said, what I was talking about was his pointing out the challenges with leasing under the current system that required updates. There’s a reason that the federal oil and gas program has been identified as high-risk for over a decade by the Government Accountability Office, and those were the comments that were the focus of my email.
Hawley: He said holding more lease sales under today’s standards is economically wasteful and environmentally destructive in response to the Secretary saying that you’re going to go forward with some additional fossil fuel leasing. So, you agree with that. His statement said,
Witness: “I agree with the point that we needed to update, and that’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve been doing it through policy, we’ve been doing it in our lease sales, and we’re doing it in our proposed regulation, and Congress has done that in many aspects of the Inflation Reduction.”
Hawley: This is it, Madam Chair. I see I’m over time. You disagree with the position of your Secretary in moving forward with this very limited leasing. You think that was a bad idea. You agree with the congressman; she was wrong to do it?
Witness: I don’t disagree with the actions of the Secretary of the Interior. I work for the Secretary of the Interior, and we are conducting oil and gas leases.
Hawley: That’s what I found so confusing about your email. I’ll ask you some additional questions for the record. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Hawley: 120 new leases in 2022 compared to over 1800 leases in 2019; email: That’s an excellent response