As war rages in Ukraine and debate over drilling on American public lands is once again in the news, a new dashboard from the Center for Western Priorities highlights the hypocrisy of the oil industry’s push to throw even more public lands open to drilling. Combined, the oil and gas industry holds leases to more than 25 million acres of publicly-owned minerals, roughly half of which sit unused. Companies now hold more than 9,000 approved, but unused, drilling permits on national public lands, all of which could be put to use today. Further, oil production on public lands is near all time highs, despite industry claims that the Biden administration has suppressed domestic production.
As war rages in Ukraine and debate over drilling on American public lands is once again in the news, a new dashboard from the Center for Western Priorities highlights the hypocrisy of the oil industry’s push to throw even more public lands open to drilling.
westernpriorities.org