White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the administration’s return to selling oil drilling leases on federal lands isn’t necessary to lower domestic gas prices but that doing so doesn’t undercut President Joe Biden’s stated clean energy goals.
Earlier in the day, the Bureau of Land Management began reissuing environmental assessments and sale notices for new oil and gas leases following the suspension issued by the president in 2021.
Reporters pressed Psaki on the subject during Monday’s press briefing, but she noted that the action is “not in line with the president’s policy” and went into effect due to a court injunction the administration is appealing.
“We need to move towards a more clean energy economy,” she stated. “There are 9,000 permits unused on lands that could be tapped into by oil companies, and we don’t feel they are needed in terms of how long it will take to get up drilling because of the court action.”
“Obviously, we’re going to continue to fight this legal action,” Psaki continued. “The president remains committed. Addressing the climate crisis is one of the four pillars that he came in — he ran on as president, and he will continue to fight for one of the reasons that this was so troubling to him.”
Responding to a question about what Biden himself can do to motivate Congress to pass his climate proposals, she claimed the administration “will continue to propose, have continued to propose, a historic investment.”
“So there are a lot of ways to get there, that we will continue to work with Congress to take actions,” Psaki closed. “We are continuing to pursue [Biden’s goal], and we’re going to continue to do everything we can to reach it.”
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You can watch Monday’s entire briefing below.
