The Department of the Interior unveiled its long-awaited plan for offshore drilling, including the possibility of holding between 0-11 lease sales through 2028.
Haaland previously promised that the DOI would issue the plan by Thursday. The administrationInterior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks during a news conference on July 22, 2021, in Denver.
"Against this backdrop, I am disappointed to see that ‘zero’ lease sales is even an option on the table," Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said in a statement. "There is already more than enough flexibility in the program to adjust sales later, which the Administration has previously taken advantage of to cancel three sales earlier this year.
Environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers, though, have urged the president to issue a five-year plan without any planned leases. On Tuesday, 10 Democratic senators led by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., penned a letter to Haaland urging her against new leasing. "While I’m obviously glad to see a significant decrease in the amount of new potential offshore leasing compared to what the last administrated proposed, I certainly don’t consider that a comforting standard," House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said in a statement after the plan was published Friday.
"Despite my disappointment in leaving the door open to nearly a dozen new lease sales over the next five years, I do take solace in knowing that the Biden administration has made it clear they will listen to frontline environmental justice communities and consult with tribes," he continued.
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