The Biden administration plans to schedule three oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five years, reversing the president's campaign promise to halt all new offshore drilling while he is in office.
The Interior Department, which oversees oil leases, said the sale was necessary because of last year's clean energy legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act. The law requires the government to provide millions of acres of oil and gas leases in exchange for the expansion of offshore wind projects, the agency said.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the five-year plan will be the smallest number of oil and gas leases sold in U.S. history and will allow the Biden administration to "support the growing offshore wind industry."
The announcement seems certain to spark opposition from environmentalists, who will highlight Biden's campaign promises, and oil and gas drillers, who will be outraged by the historically low number of sales.