Biden To Resume Oil and Gas Production Under His Terms

Background: Last month, a district court ruled that the administration lacked the authority to increase the social cost of carbon (SCC). So, President Joe Biden halted the development of gas and oil production until it could use its desired $51 SCC.

• Last Wednesday, a federal court ruled that it may temporarily use the figure. Now, the Department of Interior said it would resume its domestic oil and gas production plans.

The social cost of carbon: In January 2021, Biden signed an executive order to increase the social cost of carbon (SCC) from $7 (imposed by the Trump administration) to $51 per ton of greenhouse gas emissions. The SCC is an estimate of the supposed environmental costs of increased emissions, and raising it is a means to curb fossil-fuel production.

• This means that federal agencies must get through added red tape when they want to buy new vehicles, power a building, develop land, etc.

Why it matters: Domestic oil and gas production may help ease some of the pain Americans are feeling at the pump during the gas crisis. But Biden is still working on passing measures that curb long-term fossil fuels, even if that means delaying relief for Americans.

We have a whole article outlining how Biden’s policies enabled the current gas crisis. You can read it here.