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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has canceled oil drilling lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Cook Inlet in Alaska, triggering angry backlash from accusing Republicans. President Biden’energy policies for high gas prices.

Home Office spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said in a statement that the Cook Inlet rental sale would not continue due to “lack of industry interest”. He said two planned lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico were shelved due to “conflicting court orders” that he said were affecting the agency’s ability to work on the leases.

The decisions come at a difficult time for the Biden administration. This average price for a gallon Nationwide gas supplies reached $4.37 on Tuesday, according to AAA. Rising prices at the pump have increased inflationary pressures for consumers, which Mr. Biden says he will be himself this week. highest domestic priority.

The leasing program presents a dilemma for Mr. Biden. He promised progressive Democrats and environmental groups to steer the country away from its reliance on fossil fuels that cause climate change. It also took steps to increase oil supply to try to keep gas prices down, including urging the oil industry to pump more crude oil.

While any lease sale will not produce oil and gas in time to mitigate current high energy prices, Republicans and oil industry leaders discussed the cancellation of lease sales on Thursday, claiming that Mr. Biden’s actions exacerbated the pain felt by consumers.

“The Biden administration’s announcement that they will cancel new offshore oil and gas production is approaching unprecedented levels of irresponsibility and reckless stupidity,” Louisiana Representative Garret Graves said in a statement. .

Mr. Graves and other Republicans and oil industry leaders have also criticized the Biden administration for not publishing a new five-year offshore drilling plan so far.

Federal law requires the administration to publish a new offshore charter plan every five years, designed to balance the nation’s energy needs with environmental and economic factors.

The current plan expires June 30, raising concerns among Republicans, the oil and gas industry, and some fossil-fueled Democrats that offshore chartering will be in limbo from July.

Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group that represents oil and gas companies, said in a statement that he would “call management to end uncertainty” and publish the five-year plan for the oil industry.

Mr Macchiarola said the decision to scrap charter sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska “has become a pattern” under the Biden administration. “Management is talking about the need for more supply and is taking action to restrict it,” he said.

The Cook Inlet lease sale would open more than one million acres for drilling spanning at least 40 years of production. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had previously canceled lease sales in the area in 2006, 2008 and 2010, also stating that it was not of interest to the industry at the time.

Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for land, wildlife and oceans for environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, called the canceled leases “unnecessary” and said they would work against the goal of turning the country from fossil fuels to solar, wind and other energy sources. renewable energy sources.

The International Energy Agency said last year countries should stop approving new oil and gas projects. to prevent the planet from becoming dangerously overheated. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that the Earth is warming, largely due to greenhouse gases produced when oil, gas, and coal are burned.

“New leases are flying in the face of meaningfully tackling climate change and the transition to the clean energy future we need,” Caputo said.

Burning fossil fuels extracted from public lands and federal waters accounts for 25 percent of greenhouse gases It is produced by the United States, which is the second largest pollutant on the planet after China. Global emissions must be cut by almost half Scientists to avoid the devastating effects of a warming planet by 2030.

Mr. Biden has pledged to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent from 2005 levels by the end of this decade. As a candidate, he promised to stop new drilling on public lands and federal waters. “And by the way, no more drilling on federal soil, period. Period, period, period,” Mr. Biden told voters in New Hampshire in February 2020. Shortly after taking office, signed an executive order to pause the issuance of new leases.

But his plan has been battered by lawsuits from the oil industry and environmental advocates.

Republican attorneys general from 13 states have successfully challenged the rental pause. As a result, the Biden administration has auctioned more than 80 million acres, a record amount in the Gulf of Mexico, a move planned during the Trump administration.

Another court in January voided the lease salearguing that the Biden administration did not adequately take climate change into account when auctioning off the leases. The Ministry of Interior does not appeal this decision.

Yet a different legal fight also complicates matters. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that the Biden administration may not consider the harms caused by climate change when issuing regulations or other policies. This has caused the Biden administration to temporarily pause a number of decisions, including rent sales for drilling, while appealing that decision.