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On Friday, the Biden administration revoked around 70 oil and gas drilling permits issued by agency workers despite an order requiring appointee review. On day one, President Biden signed an executive order elevating the review of all permitting activities to top agency officials. However, dozens of permits were still issued by Bureau of Land Management offices across the country in the early weeks of the administration, and those permits are now invalid and must be resubmitted for appropriate review.
While the Biden administration has approved some oil and gas permits, the enhanced review process is one of the steps it is taking to assess the state of the broken oil and gas leasing system. Over the past four years, Trump's Interior Department did everything in their power to expand drilling, disregarding impacts on public health, clean air and water, wildlife, and fair return to taxpayers. Charles Wilkinson, professor at the University of Colorado Law School, summarized Trump administration's legacy as “the most extractive ever and the furthest from where public opinion rests... It will go down as the worst administration ever on the public lands.”
On the other hand, Biden's action on climate and efforts to hold industry accountable are popular. Polling shows that Biden's initial executive orders, including those issued on "climate day" last week, are supported by the majority of the public.
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The leadership losses at BLM are staggering. I sincerely hope the agency can get some of these people back who are committed to sustaining our public lands for everyone's benefit.”
