The President banned oil lease sales. The Republican states affected (AG Landry) sued to overturn the ban. A judge in Louisiana agreed. Now the oil executives comment. Not a full throated roar as they see the inevitable.
After a federal judge blocked a presidential order to pause federal lease sales in the Gulf, oil field workers found themselves breathing a little easier this week while executives and energy analysts still foresee rough waters as the Biden administration continues its fight for clean energy. The judge’s ruling is a step toward a balanced transition to renewable energy, said Chett Chiassion, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission. He said the delay in lease sales had no immediate effect on oil production, but it certainly impacted the attitude of oil workers in the bayou community. “The oil industry has been on a downward slope for years,” Chiasson said. “It felt like the administration was kicking us while we were down.”
theadvocate.com
The ruling was appreciated but, again, recognition of renewables was there.
Federal District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana issued the injunction Tuesday in a ruling on a lawsuit filed by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and officials in 12 other states. Doughty ordered that delayed lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska need to be resumed. Mike Moncla, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, said that a ruling like this one should help ease the stress Biden’s policies put on Americans at the gas pumps. “If President Biden wants to truly enact policies that get this nation back on track, he should join the industry’s efforts in modernizing clean energy practices while maintaining a prosperous economy,” Moncla said. Chiasson said that the oil companies in south Louisiana see a path toward renewable energy, and they embrace it. “But at the end of the day, you still need petroleum to build wind turbines and solar panels,” he said.
They are right in that oil will not disappear over night. Electric vehicles will not be the only ones on the road in 5 years. There will be a need for oil but how much? That is the question. Do we need all the wells and offshore rigs? How many do we need? These questions and more will have to be answered as the transition from totally oil to renewables occurs.
