Joe Biden just approved a massive oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico.
This was actually Biden following the law, for once, to hold Lease Sale 259, which was required by Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Needless to say, the left is already bouncing off the walls over this.
Don’t Do It Joe
By law, Biden is required to hold a certain amount of lease sales every year.
Biden was breaking that law, but decided to add the lease sale into the Inflation Reduction Act “for balance.”
This sale is massive, second only to a Trump-era sale.
It fetched a whopping $263.8 million.
The oil industry was happy it was finally getting the go-ahead to drill again.
Holly Hopkins, the American Petroleum Institute’s vice president of upstream policy, stated, “While today’s lease sale is a belated but positive step toward a more energy-secure future, it should not take an act of Congress to get us to this point.
“Continued production in the Gulf of Mexico is essential for delivering the energy the world needs while supporting lower carbon goals, but U.S. energy producers need certainty from policymakers in order to meet the growing energy demand.
“It is well past time for the Department of the Interior to finalize a five-year program for federal offshore leasing that will empower U.S. energy producers to meet the needs of consumers here at home and around the world.”
Earthjustice, the group fighting this sale, was not so thrilled.
Attorney George Torgun stated, “The excessive and reckless scope of today’s oil and gas lease sale demonstrates how badly our federal leasing program needs reform.
“The Biden Administration is not only holding a lease sale that is at odds with the law — but also succumbing to the wants of a profit-rich industry over the well-being of Gulf communities, vital ecosystems, and our urgent climate goals.”
Source: Fox News
