Hate Joe Biden’s Energy Policies? Have High Blood Pressure? If Yes to Both Then Please Don’t Read This News
If you think you’re already paying too much for a gallon of gasoline and are angry at President Joe Biden, then make sure you sit down as you process this new information.
You are likely to pay even more to fill up. Private companies that could handle oil leases are caving to Biden and members of his administration. They are just plain giving up.
A second company that was awarded Arctic Refuge oil leases during the final days of former President Donald Trump’s administration has canceled its lease.
During that time, in January 2021, two companies and one state agency received leases. Officials at one company, Regenerate Alaska (a subsidiary of Australia-based 88 Energy) terminated their lease in June of this year. The other company, the Alaska-based Knik Arm Services LLC, pulled out this past summer. Now, all the Arctic Refuge’s remaining oil leases are held by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA).
RVIVR’s repeated attempts to contact staff members at Regenerate Alaska, Knik Arm Services LLC, and AIDEA were unsuccessful.
AIDEA, according to its website, finances industrial, manufacturing and energy facilities, infrastructure, commercial real estate, and equipment within the state. AIDEA also has the authority to own and operate various facilities.
“The exit by the two companies leaves just the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state agency, to pursue oil and gas exploration in the refuge. The agency acquired seven leases covering about 370,000 acres, and is suing the federal government over [Biden’s] lease suspension,” according to The Anchorage Daily News.
“The departure adds to questions about the prospects for oil drilling in the refuge’s 1.6 million-acre coastal plain. A Republican-led Congress approved the lease sale in 2017, but the Biden administration has suspended the leases and is reviewing the leasing program. The Interior Department has called the sale process developed under President Donald Trump legally flawed.”
Knik Arm Services owner Mark Graber told the newspaper that “it has become increasingly apparent that the fight over the leases could drag on for years, hurting the value of his investment.”
Environmentalists, including those at the Denver-based Environment America, seem ecstatic that fewer companies hold leases in the Arctic Refuge. In a statement, group spokeswoman Ellen Montgomery urged AIDEA to cancel their lease “and leave the refuge to the caribou, birds, and other wildlife.”
The Arctic Refuge is in Alaska’s northeast corner and is approximately the size of South Carolina, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s website.
According to Saturday’s New York Post, “Biden leased just 126,228 acres for drilling, a pittance compared to all recent presidents (since Harry Truman) over their first 19 months.”
“Indeed, no other president since Richard Nixon leased less than 4.4 million acres, 35 times as much as Biden,” according to The Post.
IN THE NEWS: To Spread Leftist Agenda, Southern Poverty Law Center Spends Heavily in Deep South
“Ronald Reagan alone leased 47.6 million acres, 378 times as much. Even President Barack Obama OK’d leases with 58 times as many acres.”
The Post went on to say that the “dearth of leases doesn’t contribute directly to recent soaring gas and other energy prices, since it takes years to produce oil once a lease is granted. Yet industry leaders warn of shortages and price spikes down the road.”
Send story tips and other story suggestions to [email protected]
