The Biden administration is trying to implement last-minute restrictions on oil and gas drilling within the west simply weeks earlier than President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
On Monday, the Division of the Inside introduced plans to pursue a 20-year ban on oil and fuel leases in 264,000 acres of Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.
The administration submitted an software to withdraw the acreage from any potential leasing, which initiated a two-year ban on new mineral leases within the space in the course of the approval course of. The proposal now heads right into a 90-day public remark interval, which can fall underneath the Trump administration.
“The Ruby Mountains are an iconic panorama with distinctive recreation alternatives and invaluable fish and wildlife habitat value preserving for the long run,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack mentioned in an announcement. “At present’s motion honors the voices of Tribal communities and conservation and sportsmen’s teams and marks one other vital step to guard a treasured panorama.”
‘WRONG-HEADED’: ENERGY INDUSTRY LEADERS BLAST BIDEN ADMIN REPORT ON NATURAL GAS EXPORTS
President Biden speaks on the Division of Labor on Dec. 16, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch)
The Biden administration’s lease limitation doesn’t put restrictions on mining within the area.
SCOTUS HEARS ARGUMENTS IN CASE THAT COULD RESHAPE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Throughout Trump’s first administration, the Forest Service carried out a research to find out whether or not 54,000 acres could possibly be leased for oil and fuel drilling within the Ruby Mountains.
The proposal was ultimately rejected in 2019 after the general public remark interval noticed “hundreds of feedback from the native space, the state of Nevada, and from throughout the nation” opposing the concept, based on William Dunkelberger, the forest supervisor who signed the choice.
Nice Basin, Nevada, Elko County, Ruby Mountains, Lamoille Canyon. (Dukas/Common Pictures Group)
Jenna Padilla, the geologist for the Humboldt-Toiyabe Ruby Mountains ranger district on the time, mentioned that geological surveys “present there may be low to no potential for oil” within the area, the LA Instances reported in 2018.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
It’s unclear whether or not the Trump administration will contemplate potential leases within the area, however such actions might face roadblocks following the Biden administration’s new proposal.
Source link