Well, unfortunately when I said “buckle up” for the Biden Exec Order train, I failed to say “pull even tighter on that strap”… so please do that now.
The latest order flurry has included a suspension and revoking of lease permits for drilling for oil and gas on public lands. What does that mean? Well – here are the numbers that Joe probably wasn’t told about when he signed, and he and good ‘ole former mayor Pete B … now Secretary of Transportation that smugly told congress last week that the Keystone pipeline workers can just “go get other good paying union jobs”… didn’t fully consider when ink met paper:
There are over 700 million acres of public lands nationwide.
BLM controls the vast majority of that land, and leases it to oil and gas, ranchers, farmers, etc.
The lands in question are not National Parks (e.g., Yellowstone), they are mostly prairies and grasslands that have strict environmental protection policies – in place now – to protect them while being used for things like oil and gas. The waters in question are pretty much all those offshore and within 100 miles of the US coastline.
There are over 10 million workers in this industry. Not including supporting industry workers – which can triple that number (or more).
In just the 8-state Western Energy Alliance region, 58,000 workers stand to lose their jobs almost immediately from the stroke of Biden’s pen this week. That’s not including the Keystone 10,000 workers and almost 50,000 supporting industry workers already impacted, and is does not include the supporting industries and economies around those states where the 58,000 are employed.
The numbers for the national impact outside of just the 8-state region are much larger, especially for the offshore components. There are over 200 oil rigs just in the gulf, mostly on those leases.
But then there’s the other impacts you aren’t being told by your newsfeeds: Did you know that the feds make royalties on those drilling and extraction operations? Did you know they split those royalties with the host states? DID YOU KNOW that poorer states like New Mexico derive 1/3 — yes, 33% — of their K-12 budget from those royalties? DID YOU KNOW that other states, like Wyoming, get over $150M per year for their K-12 budget from those royalties? But more importantly, I can’t help but ask *where is the backfilling revenue going to come from*?
And oh, by the way, we’ll be replacing that energy from somewhere, and since we all don’t have windmills in our yards and electric vehicles being charged by them, we are still reliant on that energy from those leases for 70% of our needs today. So, fire up the tankers that were net exporting US energy, to instead now reverse course and bring energy from the Mid East back here again.
As I’ve mentioned before: Transitioning to a clean energy economy, I have no issue with. I support it. But I also very strongly support a structured, planned approach that shows us a path and transition that works through impacts and mitigations. This isn’t that approach. I’m stunned and appalled at mayor Pete’s flippant attitude and Joe’s lack of preparedness for what’s quite probably going to be the economic damage they are now inflicting within the first week in office. What would I have done differently? Easy:
- We are going to remain energy independent, but the clock is now started.
- Leases will stay in place, but they will begin to expire without renewal, by exec order, starting in 5 years (phased reductions, probably over 20-30 years). Back this with congressional legislation.
- Pipes will be completed. Transition must be on our terms, not external energy suppliers.
- Wind and solar are not the only answers; natural gas conversion plants need to also be part of the transition (clean coal may as well, if cost-effective)
- Power Grid upgrade, storage capabilities, and cyber protection must be improved
- We are going to continue to expand automotive energy alternatives, including hydrogen fuel cell (zero emissions)
- Charging stations and Hydrogen stations must expand (charging has already been growing rapidly)
- Batteries in cars are quite probably as dangerous long-term as petro-chem, so that may not be the long-term solution. Research needs to continue.
- We are going to accelerate clean mass transit roll-out, including long-haul (e.g., hyperloop)
- We need to incentivize the oil and gas industry to lead the way on energy renaissance; they have the resources and technology access. If they don’t want to lead, they will become extinct. But the moves must be tangible and demonstrable, otherwise no incentives. Show me the master plan and the milestones, then hit them.
This isn’t that hard.
