Haaland defends Interior policies, cites unused leases

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland defended the Biden administration’s progress on federal fossil fuel leasing at a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Appropriations Committee, emphasizing the industry’s unused leases on federal lands. 

Questioning Haaland, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) invoked the recent five-year leasing proposal issued by the Interior Department, asking about the likelihood that the administration would hold zero lease sales, which the plan identifies as an option. 

Haaland did not offer an estimate, only saying the department would factor in public feedback received in the 90-day public comment period and pledging a “balanced approach.”  

Responding to a follow-up question from Hyde-Smith about offshore drilling, Haaland responded, “There are about 9,000 approved drilling permits across the country currently that are not being used, 10.4 million acres of offshore federal waters already under lease.”

“I know there’s a lot that goes into considerations with the price of fuel but I want to assure you that at the Department of Interior, we’re doing our jobs and following the law to move any of these issues forward,” she added.  

In January 2021, President Biden signed an executive order temporarily pausing new oil and gas leasing on federal lands. Today’s high gas prices are due to a number of factors, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and production that has struggled to keep pace with the demand, but the administration has frequently cited the number of unused leases as a counter to criticism of its energy policies. 

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) also invoked the unused leases in his own questioning of Haaland, noting that the first year of the administration saw an all-time high for production of oil from federal lands offshore and onshore, as well as the fact that about 75 percent of offshore federal lands leased by oil companies remain unused. 

Reed went on to ask Haaland if it was accurate to say that “the price of oil is so high right now that they literally can make more money just extracting from existing wells and not increasing production, which would lower costs.” 

Haaland did not directly cosign Reed’s characterization, noting that “there’s a lot that goes into” fuel prices, including ongoing international turmoil.