American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2021 - 25

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Climate Change Dominates Agenda
By Del Torkelson
WASHINGTON- " Climate change "
not only describes the stated reason for
many Biden administration moves in his
first 100 days as president, but also may
characterize the shift in the White House's
attitude toward traditional energy sources.
April saw Secretary of the Interior
Deb Haaland issue two secretarial orders
to prioritize climate change throughout
the department and to remake the department's decision-making processes.
One week later, during the White
House's virtual climate summit, Biden
touted ambitious goals for arresting and
reversing growth in U.S. greenhouse gas
emissions, including halving U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in less than a decade.
The administration claims it already can
take steps in that direction, but published
reports suggest that what Congress does
with some Biden-backed bills is likely to
have a much greater impact on the extent
to which the country reduces emissions.
Climate Task Force
According to DOI, Haaland's secretarial
order 3399 establishes a climate task
force to coordinate work across the department, including accelerating renewable
energy development and identifying actions to foster investments in energy communities (areas where coal, oil and gas
dominate the job market). It also provides
guidance regarding scientific analysis in
the decision-making process and claims
to improve transparency and public engagement in DOI's decisions.
The department says the order, issued
on April 16, also provides policy instruction to ensure that the level of National
Environmental Policy Act analysis across
DOI bureaus is not diminished, that
climate change is appropriately analyzed,
and that tribes and environmental justice
communities are appropriately engaged.
The same day also saw Haaland sign
SO 3398, which revokes a series of
Trump-era orders.
DOI says the revoked SOs include:
· SO 3349, " American Energy Independence " (March 29, 2017);
· SO 3350, " America-First Offshore
Energy Strategy " (May 1, 2017);
· SO 3351, " Strengthening the Department of the Interior's Energy Portfolio "
(May 1, 2017);
· SO 3352, " National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska " (May 31, 2017);
· SO 3354, " Supporting and Improving the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas

Leasing Program and Federal Solid Mineral Leasing Program " (July 6, 2017);
· SO 3355, " Streamlining National
Environmental Policy Reviews and Implementation of Executive Order 13807, "
which is titled " Establishing Discipline
and Accountability in the Environmental
Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects " (Aug. 31, 2017);
· SO 3358, " Executive Committee
for Expedited Permitting " (Oct. 25, 2017);
· SO 3360, " Rescinding Authorities
Inconsistent with Secretary's Order 3349,
'American Energy Independence' " (Dec.
22, 2017);
· SO 3380, " Public Notice of the
Costs Associated with Developing DOI
Publications and Similar Documents "
(March 10, 2020);
· SO 3385, " Enforcement Priorities "
(Sept. 14, 2020); and
· SO 3389, " Coordinating and Clarifying National Historic Preservation Act
Section 106 Reviews " (Dec. 22, 2020).
According to DOI, the solicitor's office
also withdrew M-37062, an opinion concluding that the Interior Secretary must
promulgate a national Outer Continental
Shelf oil and gas leasing program consisting of a five-year lease schedule with
at least two lease sales during the fiveyear plan. DOI says the withdrawal will
allow it to evaluate its obligations under
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
Repealing SO 3055 returns NEPA reviews to the pre-Trump status quo, a
move that press accounts note, revives
the full bureaucratic and legal battleground
on which projects such as the Keystone
XL and Dakota Access pipelines largely
have been fought.
" From day one, President Biden was
clear that we must take a whole-of-government approach to tackle the climate
crisis, strengthen the economy and address environmental justice, " Haaland
says. " At DOI, I believe we have a
unique opportunity to make our communities more resilient to climate change
and to help lead the transition to a clean
energy economy. These steps will align
DOI with the president's priorities and
better position the team to be a part of
the climate solution. "
April also saw DOI extend its freeze
on federal leasing (see story, page 14).
Big Goal
The White House's virtual leaders'
summit on climate had plenty of rhetoric
about sweeping changes, though it offered
no specifics for execution.

At the summit, Biden pledged that
the United States would seek to slash its
economywide GHG emissions 50%-52%
below 2005 levels by 2030, press accounts
note, roughly doubling the 26%-28% cut
the United States committed to under the
2015 Paris Accord, which the country
rejoined on Biden's first day in office.
" The White House arrived at the ambitious goal after consulting with several
climate advocacy groups and academic
researchers who have suggested the 2030
deadline is within reach, " writes National
Review's Caroline Downey. " However,
much of the analysis relies on the assumption that Congress passes Biden's
$2 trillion infrastructure and jobs bill,
which includes substantial funding to
retrofit existing buildings with green energy technology as well as substantial
subsidies for electric vehicle makers. "
Should those provisions fail to clear
Congress, the outlook for attaining such
GHG cuts becomes murkier, Downey
adds. Moreover, some analysts say, the
goals themselves are flawed. " The BidenHarris administration's reported secondround commitment under the unratified
Paris climate treaty is preposterous and
irresponsible, " charges Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy & Environment at the Competitive Enterprise
Institute. " Trying to cut GHG emissions
50% below 2005 levels by 2030 would
cause energy prices to skyrocket, make
blackouts a common occurrence and lead
to widespread energy poverty. "
Rich Lowery makes a similar point in
Politico. " To do more than nibbling around
the edges of climate change would require
restrictions on economic activity too onerous to contemplate, " he assesses. " The
point was illustrated by the pandemic,
which, by grinding the economy to a
near-halt around the advanced world,
drove unprecedented reduction in carbon
emissions. Now that things are starting
to return to normal, carbon emissions are
recovering smartly. "
Therefore, some say the fact that the
president's pledge offers only lofty-sounding goals is actually a point in its favor,
even if that bodes ill for its prospects of
success. " Luckily, the Biden-Harris commitment is merely an expression of intention and with no legal basis, " Ebell
maintains. " We must count on widespread
public opposition to convince enough
Democrats in Congress to join with Republicans to defeat implementation of
this grotesque power grab to cripple the
American economy. "
MAY 2021 25

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