New Mexico’s Haaland confirmed as Interior secretary

The Senate voted 51-40 to confirm Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) as Interior secretary Mar. 15.

Oil and gas trade groups issued statements of congratulation and hopes for Interior Department work that will reflect an awareness of the importance of oil and natural gas for many years to come.

The vote totals were held down especially by deep snow in the Rocky Mountains and central plains. Monday typically is “fly in” day when senators return from weekend visits to home states. All four senators from Colorado and Wyoming missed the vote.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) mentioned flight cancellations because of snow as his reason for missing a chance to vote against the nominee. He cited her past statements of opposition to fossil fuels, her “lack of substantive answers during the confirmation process” and her support for “President Biden’s war on American energy” as her disqualifiers for the job.

Four Republicans voted for her along with all 47 Democrats available to vote. Both Alaska senators voted for her, possibly a bow to their state’s lone House representative, Don Young, who has praised Haaland as someone who strives for bipartisanship.

The Alaska delegation may also have hopes that Haaland, a Native American, will listen to Alaska native voices on natural resource development. Alaska natives, notably including the Inupiat natives of much of Arctic Alaska, tend to support oil and gas development.

Forum on leasing moratorium

“Secretary Haaland’s first priority should be to lift the federal leasing pause,” said American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers in a statement of congratulations Mar. 15.

The moratorium ordered by Biden on new federal oil and gas leasing is indefinite, to last for as long as Interior is conducting a comprehensive review of its leasing policy (OGJ Online, Jan. 27, 2021).

Interior will host a virtual forum Mar. 25 as part of the policy review. The Mar. 9 announcement of the day-long forum said it “will feature several panels to highlight perspectives from industry representatives, labor and environmental justice organizations, natural resource advocates, and other experts.”

Interior said information gathered at the livestreamed forum “will help inform an interim report from the department that will be completed in early summer. The report will include initial findings on the state of the federal conventional energy programs, as well as outline next steps.”

The department also is conducting outreach to members of Congress, governors, tribes, and other state and local elected leaders, and will take written comments from the public. Details will be issued on how to review the forum or submit comments.

Leases stockpiled

The leasing moratorium does not apply to work on existing leases, and Interior in its forum notice made a point of calling attention to the fact that the industry has plenty of leases where it can drill.

“Over the last few years the oil and gas industry has stockpiled millions of acres of leases on public lands and waters,” the department said. “Onshore, of the more than 26 million acres of leases under lease to the oil and gas industry, nearly 13.9 million (or 53%) of those acres are non-producing. Offshore, of the more than 12 million acres of public waters under lease, over 9.3 million (or 77%) of those acres are non-producing.”

About 7,700 unused, approved drilling permits currently are held by oil and gas companies, the department said.