A bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., seeks to end all new federal leases for oil, gas, or coal extraction on public lands.
The Keep It in the Ground Act is intended to help accelerate a transition to clean energy, and would stop new leases and end nonproducing leases for offshore drilling in the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico, stop new and end nonproducing coal, oil, gas, oil shale and tar sands leases on all federal lands, and prohibit offshore drilling in the Arctic and the Atlantic.
“Climate change is already impacting our world through greater forest fires and droughts, with serious effects on our farming, fishing and forest economies,” Merkley said. “The main cause is carbon pollution, and the impacts will only get worse in the coming decades if we keep burning fossil fuels unchecked. One key part of the solution is lying literally beneath our feet. A major contribution to this challenge would be stopping new fossil fuel leases on our public lands that lock in oil, gas and coal extraction for decades into the future. Our public lands should be managed for the public good, not for private profit. We, together, must accelerate the transition from a fossil fuel economy to a clean energy economy.”
The introduction of the bill was widely praised by environmentalists, including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Senate legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
In the House, Representatives Jared Huffman and John Garamendi, both California Democrats, introduced similar legislation aimed at permanently banning offshore drilling on the Pacific Coast.
