Chair Grijalva, Committee Members Introduce Bill to Align Public Lands and Waters with Biden Climate Targets, Announce Hearing Next Week

Press Release

Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and other members of the Committee today introduced the Public Lands and Waters Climate Leadership Act to direct the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to manage America's public lands and oceans in accordance with the Biden administration's ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals.

The bill prohibits new federal fossil fuel leasing and permitting until DOI and the USFS demonstrate that lifecycle emissions from additional oil, gas, and coal development are consistent with the Biden administration's 2030, 2035, and 2050 climate change targets. The bill also requires DOI and USFS to develop, publish, implement, and regularly update a comprehensive strategy to guide the agencies' efforts to reduce GHG emissions and to keep the public informed of the progress.

Original cosponsors of the Public Lands and Waters Climate Leadership Act are Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee Chair Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), and Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.).

Background

The climate crisis is an existential threat to the American economy and national security, the health and well-being of all people, wildlife, our lands and oceans, and future generations. To prevent the worst impacts of climate change from occurring, the U.S. must achieve the emissions reduction targets established by the Biden administration and supported by top climate scientists, including:

Reduce net U.S. GHG emissions by 50-52 percent from 2005 levels by 2030;
Achieve 100 percent carbon-free U.S. electricity by 2035; and
Achieve net-zero emissions across the entire U.S. economy by 2050.

The 2050 net-zero goal is based on multiple Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, which find that limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius requires the world to reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 and net-zero emissions of all GHGs roughly a decade after that. Despite these aggressive, science-based targets, DOI and the USFS have not yet begun to develop a strategy to phase out oil, gas, and coal leasing and production on America's public lands and waters.

Together, Congress and the Biden administration have achieved major policy victories and made historic investments in clean energy, conservation, and environmental justice communities, chiefly through the enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant climate legislation in history. But the management of our public lands and waters is outdated and DOI and USFS have a responsibility to demonstrate whether fossil fuel development on U.S. public lands and waters is compromising the country's climate goals.

Details of the Bill

The Public Lands and Waters Climate Leadership Act will ensure U.S. public lands and oceans are part of the whole-of-government approach to solving the climate crisis and achieving our emissions reduction targets, not undermining these efforts as an unchecked source of fossil fuel pollution.

Major provisions of the bill include:

Limit on New Leasing and Permitting: No new fossil fuel leasing or permitting until DOI and USFS demonstrate lifecycle GHG emissions from new leasing and permitting is consistent with the Biden administration's 2030, 2035, and 2050 climate targets.
Emissions Reduction Strategy: Every three years, DOI and the USFS must develop an emissions reduction strategy for public lands and waters with significant involvement from stakeholders, including environmental justice communities. New fossil fuel leasing and permitting may only occur if a final strategy demonstrates that emissions from new activities is consistent with the Biden administration's climate targets.
Climate Test Screening Tool: The Secretary must develop and administer a climate screening tool to analyze whether the lifecycle emissions of individual agency actions are consistent with the most recently published emissions reduction strategy and the Biden administration's climate targets.
Online Publication of GHG Emissions: Requires the online publication of information regarding GHG emissions and avoided GHG emissions from public lands and waters.
Accounting for Carbon Pollution in Fiscal Terms: The Secretary must reform fossil fuel fiscal terms to account for the damages to the climate resulting from oil, gas, and coal extraction from public lands and waters.

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