Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) criticized the Biden administration for turning down a recommendation for an oil leasing sale that Interior staff concluded would improve energy security.
Manchin was responding to an Interior Department memo that shows the agency explored charging a lower royalty for offshore oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Cook Inlet in order to lure more bidders but declined to due to climate change concerns.
“I am appalled by its contents, which make crystal clear that this administration is literally putting their radical climate agenda ahead of the needs of the people of Alaska and the United States,” Manchin said in a statement.
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Manchin’s statement is the latest of several instances in recent days of him splitting with his party on legislation and criticizing Democrats and the Biden administration.
Manchin was the central player responsible for securing the resurrection of Lease Sale 258 in the Inflation Reduction Act after the lease sale was canceled last May.
The memo, which was published accidentally last year before being withdrawn and obtained by the Washington Examiner, shows the department considered an alternative sale option in Cook Inlet with a lower royalty rate that would have made it more viable for development and improved U.S. energy security.
The department instead published a final sale notice with a higher rate of 18 3/4%, however, and the lease sale yielded a bid for just one block totaling $63,983.
“A lower royalty of 16 2/3 would also be expected to incentivize additional blocks receiving bids, increase bonus bids, and increase the chances of a discovery being developed,” the memo said. “If a Cook Inlet prospect would be developed, there would be additional government revenues and greater energy security for the State of Alaska, especially if development of natural gas resources in the Cook Inlet ameliorated the long-term supply challenges facing the Anchorage area.
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“Nevertheless, because of the serious challenges facing the Nation from climate change and the impact of GHGs from fossil fuels, BOEM is not recommending this option since it would not include an appropriate surcharge to account for those impacts,” the memo said.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
