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Hey hey hey! It’s that time of election season when @APIenergy pours big $$$ into TV attack ads based on a bogus doomsday jobs ‘report’ they cook up.
Let’s take a quick peek under the hood of their shiny ‘NEW ANALYSIS.’
Thread… https://twitter.com/APIenergy/status/1303691890399866880?s=20
Let’s take a quick peek under the hood of their shiny ‘NEW ANALYSIS.’
Thread… https://twitter.com/APIenergy/status/1303691890399866880?s=20
The topline ‘finding’ that API paid to cook up: stopping “leasing & development” on fed lands & waters would cost up to 1 M jobs.
But who is actually proposing to stop all “leasing and development”?
Nobody. Not Biden. Not Bernie. Not the Tooth Fairy.
THIS IS A STRAWMAN. 2/
But who is actually proposing to stop all “leasing and development”?
Nobody. Not Biden. Not Bernie. Not the Tooth Fairy.
THIS IS A STRAWMAN. 2/
Here’s the thing: There’s a difference between not selling new fed oil & gas LEASES (which VP Biden HAS pledged to speed clean energy transition) vs immediately stopping all PRODUCTION from existing leases (which Biden has NOT proposed & feds can't do.) https://www.climatepower2020.org/resources/api-ignores-science/ 3/
Oil & gas companies already own the rights to drill on 26 M acres of public lands (~size of Ohio) – half still undrilled.
Companies own leases on 13 M acres of ocean - 3/4ths unused.
Not cheap to buy back these leases & no easy way to fully stop drilling on existing rights.4/
Companies own leases on 13 M acres of ocean - 3/4ths unused.
Not cheap to buy back these leases & no easy way to fully stop drilling on existing rights.4/
Yet the @APIenergy ‘study’ assumes that someone will wave a magic wand and prevent oil &gas companies from continuing to produce from existing leases on U.S. public lands & waters for years to come. 5/ https://media.giphy.com/media/6CovzgyTig7M4/giphy.gif
API’s ‘study’ is premised on a garbage assumption and THEY KNOW IT.
TV stations shouldn’t be running attack ads that cite its numbers, and good reporters will know better than to give it any credibility. 6/
TV stations shouldn’t be running attack ads that cite its numbers, and good reporters will know better than to give it any credibility. 6/
So: what would a legitimate study of the impacts of a federal oil & gas leasing moratorium take into account? 5 (+1) key things 7/ https://gph.is/g/E00Q2OY
1: With oil & gas hoarding Ms of acres of unused leases, a leasing moratorium won’t have any significant near-term impacts on production or jobs. Companies already own the rights to drill on more public lands & ocean than they could ever dream of. 8/ https://westernpriorities.org/dashboard-oil-gas-leasing/
2: By stopping the flood of below market rate leases into the oil & gas market, a halt on leasing would help level the playing field for renewables, speeding a clean energy transition that WILL create jobs (renewables also ignored in API ‘study’) 9/ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2020/06/25/486852/trump-administration-stifling-renewable-energy-public-lands-waters/
3: A halt on new leasing would give gov’t a chance to start cleaning up the mess oil co's have left behind on public lands & waters. Cleaning up some of more than 57,000 orphan wells, for example, would create 10,000s of jobs in the next few years. 10/ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2020/06/23/486653/powering-americas-economic-recovery-protecting-restoring-nature/
4: The dip in revenue for state govts (if there are no bonus bids collected at leasing auctions) could be corrected by Congress doing a one-time buyout of states’ share of federal oil & gas development. 11/ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2020/04/29/484158/congress-can-help-energy-states-weather-oil-bust-coronavirus-pandemic/
5: Public lands & waters are a whole lot more valuable than for just drilling. Too often, fossil fuels have come at the expense of the outdoor economy, hunting & fishing, & local communities. A shift to cleaner energy will bolster these other sectors. 12/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-western-outdoor-economy/
Bottom line: transitioning from drilling & mining to clean energy & conservation of public lands & waters won’t be easy and won’t happen overnight.
But this week, of all weeks, makes clear that we can’t afford to wait any longer. 13/13 https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/09/western-fires-live-updates/
But this week, of all weeks, makes clear that we can’t afford to wait any longer. 13/13 https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/09/western-fires-live-updates/
