Today the Biden Administration will announce a pause on oil and gas leasing on federal lands. In response, Autumn Hanna, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense issued the following statement:  

Taxpayers for Common Sense applauds the decision by the Biden Administration to pause the federal oil and gas leasing program.  

For decades, this program has shortchanged taxpayers through outdated royalty rates, below-market rental fees, and noncompetitive practices like day after sale giveaways. We have seen these problems on full display over the last four years while the Trump Administration aggressively pushed the leasing of federal lands — even in a pandemic.  

A hold on leasing is an important first step toward fixing fundamental problems within the system. But the federal government has a fiduciary responsibility to manage public resources as strategic financial assets. The Biden Administration must now conduct a thorough review of the rules and regulations guiding federal resource production and implement the reforms necessary to protect the taxpayer interest. The broken system must be overhauled to ensure taxpayers are receiving a fair return for the resources we all own.

More information on the federal oil and gas leasing system and needed reforms available here.