Activists Call for Rapid Shutdown of Federal Oil & Natural Gas Drilling while Claiming to Support a ‘Just Transition’
It’s been one year since President Joe Biden implemented an illegal ban on oil and natural gas production on federal lands, and over the past twelve months, “Keep It In The Ground” environmental activists have shown their true colors.
Many claim to support a so-called “Just Transition,” which would supposedly reduce the economic pain, including job loss, from transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables. But their actions suggest this may be a hollow talking point as they simultaneously call for a rapid and abrupt end of responsible domestic energy production, no matter the impact on the American workforce and economy.
As we’ve seen in the year since President Biden enacted its illegal ban, the policy has had devastating effects for workers and the local and communities and state governments they support, as well as all Americans who now paying higher prices for energy. Restrictions on domestic oil and gas are also undermining American energy security.
Despite the clear consequences of the federal lands ban over the past year, activists continue to push their KIITG agenda while completely forgetting their “Just Transition” pledges, as was demonstrated again last week in an E&E News story:
“But greens are watching closely to press the Biden administration to depress fossil fuels as eagerly as it advances renewables.
“Following recent announcements about offshore wind, Chase Huntley, vice president for strategy and results at the Wilderness Society, heralded the ‘welcome news.’
“But he added that the administration also needs ‘an aggressive plan to wind down fossil energy production that ensures support for transitioning communities.’” (emphasis added)
Huntley’s vow for an “aggressive” reduction of oil and natural gas along with “support for transitioning communities” are two contradictory messages points jammed together that carry no real meaning. A rapid shut down is incompatible with a transition, and the “support” is rarely if ever spelled out.
The Wildness Society recently posted a blog praising Biden’s federal lands ban, even though it proclaimed that such a policy should “support a just transition for fossil-fuel-dependent communities.”
It wasn’t just the Wilderness Society, either. Nearly every other major environmental activist group that proclaims to support a “Just Transition” has similarly called for immediate bans on energy production. For example, 350.org.
The Sierra Club says it wants a “Just Transition” while at the same time fighting to “immediately stop all financing for fossil fuel projects globally,” including a ban on federal leasing.
The Natural Resources Defense Council pulled off a similar trick.
The Sunrise Movement, which says it supports the Green New Deal and its “Just Transition” promises, was able to combine an immediate block on oil and natural gas permits on federal lands with a “Just Transition” in a single tweet.
The Center for Biological Diversity proudly touts its efforts to cancel leases on federal lands while also running what it ironically calls an “Energy Justice Program.”
Conclusion
During the past year, “Keep It In The Ground” environmental activist groups have consistently pushed for a rapid shutdown of oil and natural gas production on federal lands, despite also claiming to support a “Just Transition” for displaced energy workers. But this has turned out to be a hollow talking point with major impacts on the American workforce and consumers.
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