(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A leaked memo revealed that the Biden administration is purposefully raising royalty fees for fossil fuel companies to drill, despite the fact that it would provide “greater energy security.”
In 2022, Amanda Lefton, former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, recommended the royalty hike as part of the Department of the Interior’s climate agenda, Fox News reported. DOI opted to go with the greater royalty fees for the Cook Inlet off the coast of Alaska.
“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,” Lefton wrote in the memo.
Lefton continued, arguing against the prospecting of the land due to climate change concerns.
“Nevertheless, because of the serious challenges facing the Nation from climate change and the impact of [greenhouse gasses] from fossil fuels, BOEM is not recommending this option since it would not include an appropriate surcharge to account for those impacts,” she added.
The royalties were raised from 16.67% to 18.75%, which Lefton also argued would bring in more bids and “be more likely to facilitate expeditious and orderly development of [offshore] resources.”
DOI Assistant Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis signed off on the recommendation, agreeing that the spike “constitutes the most reasonable balancing of environmental and economic factors for the American public.”
The auction took place on Dec 30, and garnered one bid of $63,983 for 2,304 acres. The bid was later cancelled, despite the bid being mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., called out the White House for their intent.
“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,” he said. “I will not support anyone who agrees with this type of misguided reasoning.”
