Biden New Order Splits Environmentalists And Industry Leaders
Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : January 26, 2021President Joe Biden has called for a 60-day halt on oil and gas production which has made the conservationists happy as they have a chance to reform the rules for environmental protection.
But industry leaders arent quite happy with the decision due to the economic loss they would have to face.
President for the Western Energy Alliance, Kathleen Sgamma responded to the decision stating that it’s a sacrifice for the worker’s livelihoods and doesn’t bring any climate change as such.
She also states that halting the production of oil and gas in the west can lead to its production from elsewhere and importing it can in fact result in environmental problems.
Biden New Order Splits Environmentalists And Industry Leaders
The profit from oil and gas production accounts for the payment of workers’ and also makes a quarter for the U.S annual energy production.
Timothy Considine, an energy and economic professor at the University of Wyoming stated that Colorado would undergo a loss of $586 million per year from 2021 to 2025 due to new leases and a loss of $700 million by the ending of the five years due to a ban on drilling.
Environmental activists hope that the new order enables better natural resource conservation and natural resource management programs.
One of the western economists stated that leasing and drilling halt helps to expand funds for environmental protection and public lands that relies less on the country’s profits from oil and gas.
Last year, Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act which gained an estimated $900 million a year from offshore energy production to the permanently funded Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The Act is also said to gain a profit of $1.3 billion from energy producers on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land for National Park Service and National Forest Service lands maintenance.
Colorado’s oil and gas revenues were at their lowest last year compared ever since 2003. The declining profits made it too difficult for organizing a budget for environmental maintenance.
Sgamma states that despite gaining a low budget for conservation, the energy sector can quickly make around $1.3 billion dollars which can be used for environmental protection.
She also says that Biden’s order is a complete violation of the 1920 Mineral Leasing Act and therefore will not be accepted by the judiciary.
Property and Environment Research Center’s economist and publicist Tate Watkins expressed that Biden’s halt can turn out to be a very beneficial wake-up call to develop better ways of nature funding instead of oil and gas profits.
Colorado state director and BLM executive Ann Morgan also remarked that the oil and gas pause is a great opportunity for environmentalists as well as oil and gas companies.
She also states that even though the natural resource management is underfunded at the moment, it will gradually turn out to be effective and help in climate control and probably gain industry profits.
With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.