There are just two days left for the first public comment period on the five-year offshore oil and gas plan proposed by the Biden administration. The plan includes 11 total oil and gas lease auctions, with 10 in the Gulf of Mexico and one off the coast of Alaska. Already, hundreds—if not thousands—have made their voices heard and pushed back against the plan, which was released a day after the prior five-year plan had run its course. That means there’s no present policy in place to allow for more offshore oil and gas lease auctions to continue, but if this latest plan does get adopted in its current iteration, it will spell climate disaster.
It’s not just a matter of opposing the five-year plan; as much as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides crucial funding to reach net-zero goals, it includes provisions tying offshore wind development with fossil fuel leases as well as provisions for onshore fossil fuel development tied to solar development. Per the plan, “DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) may not issue a lease for offshore wind development unless the agency has offered at least 60 million acres for oil and gas leasing on the outer continental shelf.” Some of the five-year plan’s lease auctions could satisfy this requirement, but that doesn’t guarantee there will be much development, nor will it guarantee that polluters will be able to satisfy National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) criteria.