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 @ISIDEWITHNewsDaily DiscussionClimate ChangeJoe BidenOil DrillingInflationInfrastructureSecretary•••1yr ago

Biden hits US oil drillers with first royalty rate increase in a century

The Biden administration has increased the cost of oil and gas drilling on public lands, raising royalty rates for the first time in a century as part of a sweeping crackdown on the industry ahead of November’s election.

The Bureau of Land Management said on Friday it had finalised a rule to raise the royalties drillers must pay to the government for the first time since 1920 and the bonds needed to cover the cost of clean-ups for the first time since 1960.

“These are the most significant reforms to the federal oil and gas leasing program in decades, and they will cut wasteful speculation, increase returns for the public, and protect taxpayers from being saddled with the costs of environmental clean-ups,” said Deb Haaland, interior secretary.

The rule comes as President Joe Biden toughens his stance on fossil fuel producers in a bid to mobilise progressive voters in the run-up to this year’s presidential election. His administration also recently moved to restrict offshore drilling leases and froze permits for new liquefied natural gas infrastructure.

But the royalty rise also comes as crude oil prices increase amid fears of supply disruptions due to turmoil in the Middle East — factors that have already pushed up US petrol prices and boosted inflation, just as Biden tries to sell his economic record to voters.

Royalty rates will rise from 12.5 per cent to 16.67 per cent, in line with a change first mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s landmark climate law. Minimum bond requirements, used to pay for the clean-up of abandoned wells, will rise from $10,000 to $150,000 for an individual lease.

Friday’s rule is the latest of several climate rules by federal agencies as Biden races to wrap up his regulatory agenda ahead of November’s vote.

Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, said that while it supported the new royalty rate rise as a way to “curb financial giveaways to Big Oil”, the rule failed “to confront the massive tide of climate emissions stemming from [the interior department’s] leasing programme”.

3 Replies

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

How would you balance the need for environmental protection with the immediate economic impact of higher energy costs?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

How do you feel about increasing the cost of oil drilling to potentially protect the environment, but possibly raising gas prices in the process?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1yr1Y

Do you think the benefits of demanding higher cleanup bonds from oil companies outweigh the risks of rising operational costs and potentially higher fuel prices?

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…8mos8MO

Europe on Edge as Critical Cables Severed Near Nord Stream Blast Zone

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday said "nobody believes" that two broken telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea were "accidentally cut.""We have to conclude, without knowing exactly who did it, that it is a hybrid action and we also have to assume — without knowing it — that it is sabotage," Pistorius told reporters in Brussels on the sidelines of a Council of the European Union meeting.The Finnish network company Cinia said Monday it was investigating a broken undersea internet cable running between Santahamina near Helsinki and Rostock in Germany — in a submarine incident that sparked political alarm in Berlin and Helsinki.The 1,173 kilometer-long cable follows a similar route to the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream gas pipelines, which exploded in September 2022 in an apparent act of sabotage.Also speaking on the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said: “We are now investigating what has happened. We have good capabilities through all of this to investigate what has happened and who has been there.”Finland’s Europe Minister Joakim Strand called the incident "concerning.""Our authorities together with the companies are proactively investigating the case. The telecommunications have been re-routed to back-up connections and practical impacts have been minimal. The cable of course will be repaired. It is too soon to speculate on any causes but of course this is concerning," he added.The suspected case of sabotage comes as European foreign ministers, meeting in Warsaw on Tuesday, warned that Russia is “systematically attacking” Europe’s security architecture.

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Horror in Northern Gaza: U.S. Questions Israel After Civilians Slaughtered in Residential Attack

An Israeli strike on a residential building in northern Gaza killed dozens of people early Tuesday, the territory’s emergency service said, in the latest attack to cause mass casualties in the area since Israel renewed its offensive against Hamas in the north.The Palestinian Civil Defense, the emergency service, said at least 55 people were killed in the strike in the town of Beit Lahia. Gaza’s health ministry said at least 93 people were dead, including 25 children. The Israeli military said in a statement that it was “aware of reports that civilians were harmed” in the town and was looking into the details.Matt Miller, a U.S. State Department spokesman, called the strike “a horrifying incident with a horrifying result” and said the Biden administration had contacted the Israeli government to ask what happened.Israeli forces renewed their offensive in northern Gaza this month, saying they were trying to stem a regrouping of Hamas, the militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza.The strike comes days after another Israeli attack on a residential block in Beit Lahia that left dozens of people killed or wounded, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense. The Israeli military confirmed the strike on Sunday, saying that the air force had “conducted a precise strike” targeting Hamas fighters.An overnight Israeli airstrike hit another residential building in the town on Oct. 20, killing dozens of people, Palestinian officials and emergency workers said.Roughly 400,000 people remain in northern Gaza, according to the United Nations, and many have been trapped in their ruined neighborhoods.

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Death, Denial, and Silence: Inside China’s Push to Bury Zhuhai’s Devastating SUV Attack

Outside the sports center in the southern city of Zhuhai where a 62-year-old man had plowed an S.U.V. into a crowd, killing at least 35 people, workers on Wednesday quickly removed bouquets of flowers left by grieving residents. Uniformed police officers and officials in plainclothes shooed away bystanders and warned them not to take photos. At hospitals where patients were taken after the attack — at least 43 more people were injured — local officials sat outside the intensive care units, blocking journalists from speaking with family members.On the Chinese internet, censors were mobilized to delete videos, news articles and commentaries about the attack. Almost 24 hours had passed before officials divulged details about the assault, which happened on Monday, including the death toll. Their statement offered limited details, and they have held no news conferences.The response was a precise enactment of the Chinese government’s usual playbook after mass tragedies: Prevent any nonofficial voices, including eyewitnesses and survivors, from speaking about the event. Spread assurances of stability. Minimize public displays of grief.The goal is to stifle potential questions and criticism of the authorities, and force the public to move on as quickly as possible. And to a large degree, it appeared to be working.Though many residents of Zhuhai, the city of 2.4 million where the attack happened, were clearly shaken, they said on Wednesday they had not questioned the delay in information, attributing it to the government’s need to first sort out what had happened. A steady stream of people arrived by foot or taxi to lay flowers at the sports center’s entrance, but when officials took away the flowers and told the people not to linger, they quickly complied.Local governments have also vowed in recent months to spend more time screening for people who have experienced “failures,” after a spate of violent attacks, including several cases in which schoolchildren were stabbed.But officials were also clearly on the lookout for any deeper scrutiny of the Zhuhai killings. Videos and photos of the scene of the attack showed only as grayed-out squares on Weibo, a social media platform. Blog posts urging people not to treat violent attacks as isolated incidents, but rather to look deeper for potential social causes, disappeared.

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