Joe Biden is playing games with our energy security and he is trying to keep it as quiet as possible.
In a court filing earlier this week, the administration has pushed off its decision regarding issuing new gas and oil leases until the end of 2023, reports Forbes.
The filing was made late Monday night, with little attention being given to it by the administration and media.
Getting Sneaky
Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys wrote in the briefing filed late Monday evening that the Interior Department (DOI) will not have its plan for gas and oil leasing for at least another nine months.
This is nothing but a delay tactic, rest assured.
The filing stated, "Interior is proceeding expeditiously to approve the next Five-Year Program in December 2023, only three months after API’s requested date. API has not provided compelling reasons why the Court should accelerate Interior’s timeline," reports Fox News.
The filing was in response to a lawsuit brought by American Petroleum Institute (API).
Per the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the government must submit its plan every five years. Biden knew this when he came into office, yet they paid little attention to it.
The last plan was filed in 2017 and expired this past June, so Biden is already nine months late with the plan. And according to the briefing, they will be 18 months late, at least, by the time they have it ready.
He is literally breaking the law by not issuing a final version of the plan from the DOI that had been submitted on July 1, 2022. That plan was unacceptable, offering no lease sales between 2023 and 2028, with a maximum option of 11 lease sales. This would cripple the fossil fuel industry in this country, which, of course, is Biden’s end game.
This is not typical, by the way, as both Democrat and Republican administrations have always had a plan ready to go immediately upon the expiration of the previous plan.
National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) president Erik Milito stated, "The continued, prolonged, and unprecedented delay of the U.S. offshore oil and gas leasing program is injecting substantial and unnecessary uncertainty into the investment outlook for U.S. energy and national security. The U.S. offshore region competes with other offshore regions throughout the world for investment in energy producing projects.
"Historically, the U.S. has been able to compete effectively under its statutory and regulatory framework. However, as certainty and predictability has continued to erode as a result of stifling energy policy decisions out of Washington, investment dollars may begin to flow to other producing regions."
Again, Biden is literally breaking the law here, circumventing it and doing what he pleases with no accountability.
Once again, Senator Manchin (D-W.V.), who is peeved that Schumer and Biden screwed him over in a deal to get a pipeline approved for West Virginia, called out the administration directly.
Manchin stated, "Monday night, the Department of the Interior made it painfully clear — again — that they are putting their radical climate agenda ahead of our nation’s energy security, and they are willing to go to great lengths to do it. The earliest that Interior will release a legally required program for 2023-2028 offshore oil and gas leasing will be the end of this year. That’s 18 months late.
"This is the first time in our nation’s history that we haven’t had a five-year leasing program released before the old plan expired. Every other administration, Democrat and Republican, has managed to follow the law in a timely fashion. Let me be clear — this is not optional. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act mandates that the secretary of the Interior 'shall prepare' this program to 'best meet national energy needs.'"
He concluded, "What is even more terrifying is that on top of this disturbing timeline, Interior refuses to confirm if they intend to actually include any lease sales in the final plan.”
As usual, when the White House was asked for clarification on the matter, it snidely stated that the briefing is self-explanatory.
They are right, it is, because this administration just flipped us all off in terms of energy security.
