Among the stack of executive orders that President Biden signed during his first week in office were several targeting oil and gas development on federal land. On his first day in office, Biden suspended new fossil-fuel leases and drilling permits on federal lands and waters for 60 days. At a “Climate Day” event the following week, he went much further, declaring an indefinite pause on new federal oil and gas leasing altogether so that his administration could “review and reset” the leasing program.
The moves aren’t exactly surprising. As a candidate, Biden had long pledged to ban new oil and gas …
This article appears as “The Cost of Not Drilling” in the February 22, 2021, print edition of National Review.
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