New Ad Campaign Demands President Biden Stop Leasing Public Lands to Polluters

by Tyler Kruse

July 13, 2022

Leasing lands to oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron will only lead to more pollution, cancer, and ruined lands while driving irreversible climate change.

© Les Stone / Greenpeace

Washington DC (July 12, 2022)—In advance of the Biden administration’s imminent on- and offshore lease sales, Greenpeace USA today launched a digital ad campaign demanding that President Biden and his administration protect our public lands and waters from the destructive oil and gas industry. The ads target members of the Biden administration, including White House and Department of the Interior (DOI) officials, who have the power to cancel future lease sales.

Seth Laxman, climate campaigner at Greenpeace USA, said: “The Biden administration needs to stop falling for Big Oil’s propaganda. We currently produce more oil and gas than ever before, yet prices at the pump are at record highs. If more drilling was the answer to lowering gasoline prices we wouldn’t be here in the first place. Leasing lands to oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron will only lead to more pollution, cancer, and ruined lands while driving irreversible climate change. The science is clear: we cannot afford any oil and gas expansion if we are to avoid climate catastrophe.”

Upon taking office, President Biden promised to end oil and gas leasing on public lands and protect 30% of U.S. lands by 2030. Instead of honoring this promise, the administration has opened up additional lands for drilling, posting over 700,000 acres for possible auction in the first quarter of 2022.

On June 14, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held its first public lands lease sale in Nevada. Between June 14 and June 28, BLM was scheduled to auction off roughly 144,000 acres of public lands across the West. On July 1, DOI released a draft offshore leasing plan that could hand millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska to oil and gas companies. This despite NOAA stating that offshore drilling disasters release thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean every year, putting the entire ecosystem—including humans—at risk.

Laxman continued: “Our public lands are one of America’s most sacred resources. They should belong to all of us. The Biden administration is risking irreparable desecration of millions of hectares of untouched public lands so that Big Oil CEOs and shareholders can get rich. At COP26, President Biden assured the world that his plans to cut emissions are not mere rhetoric. Then he went home and immediately held the largest offshore oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history. By offering over 80 million acres in the Gulf for oil and gas development just days after the international climate talks, President Biden made a mockery of his commitments. Scientists have issued warning after warning that oil and gas expansion would pump millions of metric tons of climate-wrecking pollution into our air and lead to climate catastrophe.”

The ads ask the Biden administration to immediately establish a permanent and comprehensive halt to oil and gas leasing and production on federal lands and waters.

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View the ads

Contact: Tyler Kruse, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, [email protected], (808) 741-2791

Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

Tyler Kruse

By Tyler Kruse

Tyler Kruse is a senior communications specialist with Greenpeace USA covering climate and energy.

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