deb haaland
Newsletter
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Interior implements new regulations on offshore drilling insurance
The Biden administration has introduced new regulations to increase insurance bonds for offshore drilling cleanup, targeting companies deemed financial risks by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
In short:
- The new rule mandates supplemental insurance for costs related to decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure.
- It aims to protect taxpayers from bearing the financial burden if oil companies default on their cleanup responsibilities.
- Estimates suggest the rule could generate $6.9 billion in new insurance bonds to cover potential bankruptcies of offshore operators.
Key quote:
"The American taxpayer should not be held responsible when oil and gas companies are unable to clean up after their own operations."
— Deb Haaland, Interior Secretary
Why this matters:
Offshore drilling carries inherent environmental risks, including oil spills and habitat destruction. In the past, the burden of cleaning up oil spills has often fallen on taxpayers when drilling companies lack the financial resources to cover the full extent of the damage. Increasing insurance bonds seeks to rectify this by shifting more of the financial responsibility back to the companies conducting the drilling operations.
The Gulf of Mexico is littered with tens of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells, and toothless regulation leaves climate warming gas emissions unchecked.
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Credit: U.S. Department of the Interior/ Jacob W. Frank/Flickr
Tough choices could make 2024 a wild ride for Interior
NPS morale challenges, a BLM conservation proposal, changes to oil and gas drilling on public lands, and a 20-year plan for tackling the West's drought are
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BLM wants to protect the Placitas area from oil and gas extraction
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wants to withdraw nearly 4,213 acres of public lands from oil and gas extraction for 50 years “to protect, preserve, and promote the scenic integrity, cultural importance, recreational values, and wildlife habitat connectivity within the Placitas area,” according to the six-page draft proposal.
Photo by Raychel Sanner on Unsplash
Biden administration bans oil and gas drilling around Chaco Canyon
The Interior Department will withdraw public lands around Chaco Canyon from new oil and gas leasing for 20 years.
Newsletter
A guardian of federal lands, lambasted by left and right
From oil and gas leases to missed climate targets, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has become a lightning rod for the Biden administration’s compromises on energy policy. A recent Senate hearing underlined the steady criticism she faces from conservatives.
Biden voids Trump-era deal to open Alaskan wildlife area
The administration canceled a plan that would have allowed road construction in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.
Greg Gjerdingen/Flickr
Public lands near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters withdrawn from federal mining leases
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland signed Public Land Order 7917, which protects areas of the Superior National Forest from federal geothermal and mineral extraction leases for the next 20 years.
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