Biden halts decisions on new drilling amid legal tussle over climate costs
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WASHINGTON • The Biden administration is indefinitely freezing decisions about new federal oil and gas drilling as part of a legal brawl with Republican-led states that could significantly impact President Joe Biden's plans to tackle climate change.
The move, which came on Saturday, was a response to a recent federal ruling that blocked the way the Biden administration was calculating the real cost of climate change, a figure that guides a range of government decisions, from pollution regulation to whether to permit new oil, gas or coal extraction on public lands and in federal waters.
Under former president Barack Obama, the government estimated that the damage from wildfires, floods and rising sea levels was US$51 (S$68.60) for every tonne of carbon dioxide generated by burning fossil fuels.
Mr Donald Trump, who succeeded Mr Obama, lowered that number considerably, setting it at US$7 or less per tonne.
Upon taking office, Mr Biden revived the US$51 level and set about updating it further - work that is under way.
Known as the "social cost of carbon", the metric is designed to underline the potential economic threats from greenhouse gas emissions so that they can be compared with the economic benefits from acts like oil drilling.
Economists and climate scientists say the metric is needed because climate-fuelled heatwaves, storms, wildfires and flooding cost the United States billions of dollars annually but these costs are often not taken into account by policymakers.
Factoring in the costs could make it harder for fossil fuel projects to win federal approval.
But 10 Republican-led states sued the government, and on Feb 11, Judge James Cain Jr of the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana found that the Biden administration's calculations "artificially increase the cost estimates" of oil and gas drilling.
Judge Cain, a Trump appointee, said using the social cost of carbon in decision-making would harm his native Louisiana and other energy-producing states. He issued an injunction preventing the administration from considering the metric. The Department of Justice said it intends to appeal.
In a twist, the fallout from the judge's ruling - at least initially - is that the federal government has stopped work on new oil and gas leases, as well as permits to drill on federal lands and waters.
NYTIMES
