Medhini Kumar, medhini.kumar@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC - Today, the Department of the Interior (DOI) outlined next steps for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to take related to oil and gas leasing tied to the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
First, BOEM issued a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact (EIS) statement for Lease Sales 259 and 261. Both lease sales were reinstated in compliance with the IRA, with Congress mandating that they are held by March 31, 2023 and September 30, 2023, respectively.
Second, as part of the IRA’s 2 million acre onshore leasing provision, BLM announced it will begin scoping for potential lease sales in New Mexico and Wyoming, totaling to 10,123 acres in New Mexico and 251,087 acres in Wyoming.
In response, Athan Manuel, Director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, issued the following statement:
“While the IRA represents a historic step forward in achieving our nation’s climate goals, we cannot let the bad provisions of the bill, including oil and gas leasing, undercut what we stand to gain. Selling our lands and waters to fossil fuel extraction is inherently incompatible with reaching our goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and preserving a livable planet.
“Fossil fuel expansion devastates millions of acres of nature, contributes to an increasing number of climate disasters, and creates a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions. And in the wake of increasingly devastating hurricanes, wildfires, and heatwaves, we’ve seen that the brunt of these consequences will be most heavily felt in low-income communities and communities of color. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Now is our moment to acknowledge the weight of these impacts on our communities and our environment and move to phase out this program once and for all.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.