American oil and gas permitting has increased under President Biden, data shows

Recent data from the Center for Western Priorities shows the federal government has been issuing more oil and gas drilling permits.

The data was unveiled Wednesday. According to Yahoo News, the industry is currently sitting on 9,173 approved but unused drilling permits. Filing those permits has already cost the operators over $10,000 each.

Permits expire after two years, and only a single extension is allowed. As of now, over 26 million acres of federal land are under lease for oil and gas drilling.

President Biden has stated his goal to reduce American dependence on fossil fuels in order to combat global warming. However, his administrations have been readily approving oil and gas drilling permit applications.

Jesse Prentice-Dunn, the policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, said, “The Interior Department, the Bureau of Land Management, under both Biden and Trump, essentially operates as a rubber stamp.”

In the fiscal year 2021, 98% of drilling permit applications were approved. This year, the government is on track to meet last year’s approval percentage. As of now, 96% of applications have been approved.

The approval rate under President Trump in the fiscal year 2020 was 94%. This shows that more oil and gas drilling permits have been approved under President Biden than President Trump.