Biden Admin Launches Oil and Gas Drilling Auction Just Ahead of COP28 – By Julia Conley (Common Dreams) / Nov 29, 2023
“Instead of doing the necessary work to fight climate change, Biden continues to support the expansion of fossil fuels here in the U.S.,” said one advocate.
As world leaders prepared to head to Dubai for the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference on Tuesday, the U.S. Interior Department underscored President Joe Biden’s nonattendance at the summit by moving to sell $3.4 million in oil and gas drilling leases—just the first in a series of drilling auctions set to take place over the next two weeks while other leaders discuss the need to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) put up 37 parcels of land covering 35,000 acres of land in Wyoming, but ultimately sold 18 parcels on 21,500 acres. The agency ultimately hopes to sell drilling rights on 44,000 acres in the state as well as in New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Utah, with the final sale taking place as the climate change conference (COP28) wraps up on December 12.
Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager at Friends of the Earth, told the Washington Examiner that the sale was “the latest in a string of disappointments” regarding Biden’s continued support for fossil fuel extraction.
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