Chair Castor Applauds Ruling Invalidating Oil And Gas Lease Sale In Gulf Of Mexico
WASHINGTON - Chair Kathy Castor of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released the following statement on Friday after a federal judge struck down the leasing of millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling, throwing out a faulty climate impact analysis completed during the Trump Administration:
“This is a major victory for our climate, for our public health, and especially for vulnerable communities like my own across the Gulf Coast,” said Chair Castor. “Beyond the obvious risks to our communities posed by harmful offshore drilling - exemplified by the catastrophic BP oil disaster of 2010 - we know that fossil fuel production is continuing to fuel the climate crisis. This court made the right choice by taking those risks into account and throwing out phony climate impact studies made by former President Trump’s toxic team – which would have forced the Biden Administration to go through with an unnecessary sale.
“The science is clear: We must act with urgency to reduce pollution, strengthen our communities, and expand the reach of cleaner, cheaper energy. That’s why President Biden took immediate action to pause new leases on federal lands and waters upon taking office, and it’s why we continue to work together in the fight to solve the climate crisis.”
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Background:
- In June of 2020, the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Democrats released the majority staff report Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America. This report provides a roadmap for Congress—a Climate Crisis Action Plan—to build a prosperous, clean energy economy that values workers, advances environmental justice, and is prepared to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.
- House Democrats have already passed more than 375 of the recommendations in the Climate Crisis Action Plan, and have successfully worked to turn over 200 of them into law.
