You may recall that, at the outset of his presidency, President Joe Biden issued a broad ban on new oil and gas leases on federal land. That ban was eventually stayed by a judge; in the meantime, though, the Biden administration had been issuing drilling approvals at a feverish rate.
Now, after pledging to reduce oil drilling while briskly driving up the rate of oil drilling, the Biden administration wants to make oil drilling more costly:
The Biden administration is recommending that oil and gas companies pay more money to drill on public lands and waters, but is stopping short of banning drilling on public lands.
The Interior Department made its recommendation in a report released Friday, after finishing its review of federal oil and gas programs. Many environmental activists were hoping for more restrictions on drilling, or an outright ban. The review was prompted by an executive order.
Memo to the White House:
Maybe after driving up the cost of oil drilling, the administration can offer rebate coupons for oil drillers to offset the hiked cost, but only after they attach an expensive processing fee to the rebate itself, which can be offset via tax deductions, which...
