Increasing federal oil sales would significantly boost greenhouse gas emissions tied to public lands, according to a report from a nonpartisan think tank.
Resources for the Future, which studies ways to tackle climate change, found that opening more federal lands to oil and gas companies would drive up carbon emissions by as much as 1.2 gigatons over the next 25 years — a carbon footprint that’s roughly equal to one year’s worth of emissions from 285 million cars.
Leasing on federal lands has created tension between the Biden administration, which reduced leasing in recent years even as federal oil production reached record highs, and Republican lawmakers who seek an increase in oil and gas auctions. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. oil production comes from federal reserves.
It takes up to 10 years for oil companies to drill after buying federal leases, so lease sales are used as a gauge to predict future oil and gas production on federal lands.
