Biden Approves ConocoPhillips Oil Project Over Green Group Objections

The Biden administration formally approved Willow, an $8 billion oil drilling project located in Alaska, Monday morning over the objection of climate activists who lobbied heavily against it.

The massive project, operated by American energy firm ConocoPhillips, is projected to produce roughly 600 million barrels of oil over a 30-year lifespan, The New York Times reported. In a bid to placate environmentalists, the administration had considered limiting the project to just two drill sites, down from the five that ConocoPhillips initially proposed, but the company and Alaskan lawmakers warned that the project would need at least three to be economically viable, according to CNN.

Read More

Wyoming Governor Sues Biden Administration over Oil and Gas Contract Cancellations

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is again taking the Department of Interior to court. The governor has filed a second federal lawsuit against the department relating to a Bureau of Land Management decision to pause oil and gas lease sales. In a statement, the governor called the litigation timely and vital to the interests of people living in his state. 

“Wyoming’s energy resources can help power the nation and bring down costs at the pump,” said the governor. “BLM’s decision to cancel lease sales sure seems to be a violation of both the letter and the spirit of the law, (and) I firmly believe the pause in lease sales was politically driven and not based in law or fact.”

Read More

Commentary: Expensive Energy Is a Core Feature, Not a Bug, of Biden’s Climate Agenda

“Every government intervention creates unintended consequences, which lead to calls for further government interventions,” observed the great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. He was being generous by describing interventionism’s nasty side-effects as “unintended.” Some younger interventionists are naïve, and know not what they do, but the older, street-smart captains of progressive politics understand the harms their policies entail. For them, the adverse consequences are features, not bugs. The only downside is the risk of political retribution at the polls.

That’s the predicament in which the Biden administration now finds itself. It is also the theme of “Energy Inflation Was by Design,” a new report by supply-chain consultant Joseph Toomey.

Read More

Judge Issues Permanent Injunction on Biden Ban on New Oil and Gas Leasing on Federal Lands, Waters

A federal judge sided with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and 12 other plaintiff states in a Louisiana-led lawsuit, issuing a permanent injunction against the Biden administration’s moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands and water.

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty issued the permanent injunction, declaring that the president exceeded his authority when halting oil and gas leasing and drilling permits.

Read More

Commentary: Biden Has Conveniently Forgotten His Role in Explosive Gas Prices

President Joe Biden’s attempts to reduce the cause of high gas prices to the war in Ukraine initially, and corporate greed more recently, are disingenuous.

On day one this president clearly stated his opposition to oil and gas production and development. The president’s words and even more so his actions, have serious impacts on the costs of commodities, including oil.

Read More

Average U.S. Gas Price Surges to $4.85 a Gallon

In what has become a seemingly every day occurrence, gas prices rose to a new record high Sunday as the national average approaches $5 a gallon.

Nine states already have surpassed the $5 threshold, and several others are just pennies away.

According to AAA, the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline reached $4.85 Sunday, up an additional three cents from Saturday and 24 cents from last week.

Read More

Majority of Americans Say They Are ‘Falling Behind’ Rising Cost of Living

The majority of Americans feel they cannot keep up with the cost of living as inflation and the price of goods continue to rise, according to new polling data.

A poll from NBC News asked Americans, “Do you think that your family’s income is … going up faster than the cost of living, staying about even with the cost of living, or falling behind the cost of living?”

Read More

Feds Cancel Second Quarter Oil and Gas Lease Sales

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said Wednesday the agency is canceling oil and gas lease sales for the second quarter, drawing criticism from Wyoming’s governor.

The announcement marks the second quarter in a row that the agency, which manages energy development, recreation, grazing and conservation on 245 million federal acres, halted lease sales after President Joe Biden signed an executive order in January that included a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands. 

Read More