Yesterday, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell spoke to the public at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Sec. Jewell boldly announced a new and ambitious role for the Department of the Interior in the President’s Climate Action Plan.
The most important take away from Secretary Jewell’s speech, was that “helping our nation cut carbon pollution should inform our decisions about where we develop, how we develop, and what we develop.” We are pleased that the department is leading the way to update much needed oil and gas drilling policies, raising royalty rates, and putting our reduction of carbon emissions at the forefront of its plan.
Secretary Jewell touched on a variety of pertinent environmental issues, such as:
- ensuring that climate disruption informs our decisions about where, how, and what we develop
- identifying and permitting zones with high solar and wind potential
- creating long-term tax credits for renewable energy
- increasing royalty rates on oil and gas resources
- new fracking regulations for public and tribal lands
- reducing the flaring of natural gas
Each of these issues plays an important role in how America develops its energy resources and whether or not we will be a leader in developing renewable energy. We are proud that Secretary Jewell is taking bold action to update our hydraulic fracturing (fracking) regulations, and support her efforts to expand appropriately cited renewable energy generation on public lands.
Solar energy has increased ten-fold and wind energy has tripled since 2008. In her remarks, Sec. Jewell cited the $340 billion of private sector investment and tax policy, as having helped to move these investments forward. She did not shy away from discussing climate change and the impact that it will have on the administration and its energy policies, asking - “what are we doing to achieve a low carbon future? What measures do we need in place for our land, water and climate today to protect the families of tomorrow?”
Secretary Jewell echoed the calls from the Sierra Club and other renewable energy advocates, to support the renewable energy sector with sustained incentives and tax credits, similar to the ones that lowered the cost of doing business for the oil industry. It is now time for burgeoning energy sources, like wind and solar to be consistently incentivized so that they can become a firm addition to our energy economy.
The Department of Interior is taking a leadership role in supporting wind and solar. In the last six years, the Department of Interior has approved 52 commercial-scale renewable energy projects on public lands across the West, that when built, will create 14,000 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power 4 million American homes.
At the same time, Secretary Jewell is committed to reducing pollution through more stringent rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking). These safeguards have not been updated for over 30 years, since the Secretary herself was working on fracking and drilling operations in Oklahoma. The technology has changed tremendously since then and it is time for the rules regulating their operations to do the same. It is time for the administration to protect communities from the toxins and hazards of fracking. We are pleased that the Department will soon be announcing its new safeguards on fracking. The new safeguards will likely include measures to protect our nation’s groundwater, require companies to disclose the chemicals they use, and to properly handle fluids used in the drilling process. New standards will also be proposed to cut methane emissions and wasted gas from venting and flaring during oil and gas operations.
It is time for the American taxpayer to get a fair return from our energy resources. The Department will soon hold a public comment period on raising the royalty rates on oil and gas resources.
Regardless of the new safety measures and royalty policies implemented by the Department, there are simply some places that are too special to drill. Places that are rich cultural resources, key wildlife habitat, and areas with great outdoor recreation opportunities, should be permanently protected for their conservation values. We wholeheartedly agree with the Department that places like Utah’s national parks, North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park or the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should not be touched by drilling and should be permanently protected for future Americans to enjoy them as we do today.
The ultimate solution as we look toward the future is to protect our communities, our special places, and our climate by keeping dirty fuels in the ground.
-- By Natalie Mebane, Public Lands Protection Representative, Our Wild America campaign