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Haaland revokes Trump-era O&G orders, forms climate task force
Kay Cashman Petroleum News
On April 16, Interior Secretary Debra Haaland issued two secretarial orders: one, SO 3398, revoking a series of fossil fuel-related secretarial orders issued under the Trump administration, and the other, SO 3399, establishing a climate task force to coordinate across the department, prioritizing climate change and addressing environmental justice in agency decisions.
The Trump era secretarial orders include a 2017 SO intended to increase oil development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, or NPR-A.
Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed the 2017 order on the petroleum reserve at a conference in Anchorage, saying the path to U.S. energy dominance is “a path through the great state of Alaska.”
New leasing already on hold The Interior Department is already conducting a climate review of oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters. While this is ongoing, the Biden administration has paused new leasing - a move that has incited a pushback from Republicans in Congress and across oil-producing states. (Most Republicans did not vote to confirm Haaland’s appointment as Interior Secretary, but Alaska’s two senators did - Sen. Lia Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan.)
As part of the new climate task force order, Interior is withdrawing an opinion that said the agency must hold at least two lease sales during a five-year period under the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, giving officials time to review requirements under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
Impact Native, State lands “The Interior Secretary’s actions are disappointing, but not surprising,” Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige told Petroleum News in an April 21 statement. “They confirm our concerns that new layers of federal bureaucracy will discourage activity and economic development, not just in Alaska on land owned by the State and Alaska Natives, but across the entire United States.”
The “new secretarial orders and resulting delays will bring economic harm to Alaskans, and particularly to the residents of the North Slope, who directly benefit from the revenues generated from development and who own resources within restricted federal areas,” Feige said.
Biden’s climate change summit Haaland’s actions are part of a government-wide effort by the Biden administration to further address climate change before a virtual global summit on climate change that Biden is hosting April 23-24.
“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 said.
“I know that signing secretarial orders alone won’t address the urgency of the climate crisis. But I’m hopeful that these steps will help make clear that we, as a department, have a mandate to act,” she added.
The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s top national lobbying group, disagreed with Haaland. API warned that policies aimed at slowing or stopping oil and natural gas production on federal lands and waters could harm environmental progress, as well as national security and the economy.
“Banning or greatly hindering federal leasing ... would threaten decades of American energy and climate progress and return us to greater reliance on foreign energy with lower environmental standards,’’ said Kevin O’Scannlain, an API vice president.
State of Alaska not consulted “It is also unfortunate that the Secretary did not consult with the State of Alaska on any of these new orders, which directly affect the unique federal obligation to develop the natural resources of Alaska in NPR-A and the ANWR 1002 area,” Feige said.
“The North Slope remains one of the most prospective areas in North America for energy development, and the State will continue to fight to draw investment despite these additional obstacles,” she said.
Trump, Obama differences Haaland’s first order attacked Trump-era directives that promoted what the former president called an “energy dominant” policy for the United States. The concept is not very different from the “energy independence” positions of past U.S. presidents, including Barrack Obama.
The difference is “Democrats are less comfortable getting up on the stand and saying, yes, we are a big oil producer. Yes, we are a big gas producer, and we feel good about that,” Tim Boersma told CNBC in 2017. (Boersma was identified as a senior research fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Today, Columbia describes him as “Senior Research Scholar of International and Public Affairs.”)
Here is how former Energy Secretary Rick Perry explained energy dominant to the White House press corps in 2017: “An energy dominant America means self-reliant. It means a secure nation, free from the geopolitical turmoil of other nations who seek to use energy as an economic weapon. An energy dominant America will export to nations around the world, increasing our global leadership and our influence.”
The first part of Perry’s statement dovetails with every U.S. president’s goal since Richard Nixon faced the Arab oil embargo in 1973, which halted oil shipments from the Middle East to the United States, the Netherlands, Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa, in retaliation for support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War.
It was the first worldwide energy crisis.
Role of Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War started in October 1973 when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel on the Jewish holy day. Egyptian and Syrian forces made early gains across the Suez Canal and Golan Heights, but Israel turned the tide, and within a few weeks Israeli troops had pushed into Egyptian and Syrian territory.
The Arab oil embargo was an attempt to pressure Western countries to force Israel to withdraw from seized lands. As a result, the United States experienced its first fuel shortage and first significant increase in gasoline prices since World War II.
In response to the embargo, the U.S. government imposed fuel rationing and lowered speed limits to reduce consumption.
As a last resort Nixon seriously considered military action to seize oil fields. However, negotiations led to the lifting of the embargo in March 1974.
The embargo caused the United States and western European countries to reassess their dependence upon Middle Eastern oil. It also led to changes in U.S. energy policy, including increased domestic oil production and greater emphasis on energy efficiency.
Arab members of OPEC - Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries - were responsible for the embargo. Until that time, OPEC, had kept a relatively low profile, mainly negotiating with international oil companies for better terms for member countries.
Enviro groups cheered Haaland Environmental groups heralded Haaland’s April 16 orders and pledged to work with the secretary to ensure Interior Department decisions are guided by science and respect for Indigenous communities, wildlife, outdoor recreation and other uses.
More than 25% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions originate on public lands, and Interior has “unrivaled opportunities to restore natural carbon sinks, responsibly deploy clean energy and reduce existing emissions,’’ said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.
- KAY CASHMAN (Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Matthew Brown contributed to this story.)
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