{"id":1621317,"date":"2024-04-20T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=635191"},"modified":"2024-04-20T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T13:00:00","slug":"drilling-for-oil-on-public-land-in-the-us-is-about-to-get-more-expensive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/04\/20\/drilling-for-oil-on-public-land-in-the-us-is-about-to-get-more-expensive\/","title":{"rendered":"Drilling for oil on public land in the US is about to get more expensive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This story was originally published by\u00a0High Country News<\/a> and is reproduced here as part of the\u00a0Climate Desk<\/a>\u00a0collaboration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 12, the Department of Interior released a new rule that will impose stricter financial requirements for oil and gas companies that operate on federal public land \u2014 the first such change since 1960.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reform includes a jump in the amount of money that drilling companies must put forward to ensure cleanup of their wells. It also raises the royalty tax rate that operators pay on the minerals they extract on public land, which had not changed in more than a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said that the changes will \u201ccut wasteful speculation, increase returns for the public, and protect taxpayers from being saddled with the costs of environmental cleanups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final version of the rule, which was released in draft form last summer, joins a flurry of climate and conservation moves by the Biden administration in recent weeks, including a strengthened\u00a0methane<\/span><\/a>\u00a0emissions standards for oil wells on federal land and a renewable energy\u00a0policy<\/a>\u00a0meant to promote wind and solar development. Environmental groups praised the rule as long overdue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese new regulations are the kind of common-sense reforms the federal oil and gas leasing program has needed for decades,\u201d said Athan Manuel, Sierra Club Lands Protection Program director, in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The increase to bonding requirements means that the government will have substantially more money set aside to pay for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells. In order to drill, energy companies put forward funds, most often in the form of bonds purchased with a third-party surety company, to ensure that cleanup takes place.<\/p>\n\n\n