Selling public land to companies that carve it up for fossil fuels is a bad deal for people and the environment.
The U.S. government is tasked with managing federal lands and waters for the good of the American people. This management includes overseeing public lands ranging from national parks and forests, to continental shelf waters and marine sanctuaries. The federal agencies involved are supposed to balance conservation with other uses, including fossil fuel extraction — a balance that is now way off in favor of fossil fuel companies in a time of climate change.
Through a process called the federal leasing program, private companies are allowed to carve up public lands and waters to extract fossil fuels. This is a bad deal, for us, the climate, and the environment. These leases lock us into decades of dirty energy and climate-heating pollution: 25% of the nation’s total climate emissions come from extracting, transporting, and burning fossil fuels on public land. Reforming the federal leasing program is crucial to meaningfully address climate change.
Read on to learn about the broken federal oil, gas, and coal leasing program and why it’s a bad deal. Learn more about what Earthjustice is doing to protect our public lands and waters, and how you can help.
Here’s Why Leasing Public Land to Oil and Gas is a Death Sentence for the Planet
The U.S. government is tasked with managing federal lands and waters for the good of the American people. This management includes overseeing public lands ranging from national parks and forests, to continental shelf waters and marine sanctuaries. The federal agencies involved are supposed to balance conservation with other uses, including fossil fuel extraction — a balance that is now way off in favor of fossil fuel companies in a time of climate change.
Through a process called the federal leasing program, private companies are allowed to carve up public lands and waters to extract fossil fuels. This is a bad deal, for us, the climate, and the environment. These leases lock us into decades of dirty energy and climate-heating pollution: 25% of the nation’s total climate emissions come from extracting, transporting, and burning fossil fuels on public land. Reforming the federal leasing program is crucial to meaningfully address climate change.
Read on to learn about the broken federal oil, gas, and coal leasing program and why it’s a bad deal. Learn more about what Earthjustice is doing to protect our public lands and waters, and how you can help.
Here’s Why Leasing Public Land to Oil and Gas is a Death Sentence for the Planet