Biden intends to ban oil and gas leasing for 20 years in the Nevada region, just weeks before Trump’s inauguration
The Biden administration is trying to impose restrictions at the last minute oil and gas drilling in the west just weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
On Monday, the Interior Ministry announced plans for a 20-year oil and gas lease ban on 264,000 hectares The Ruby Mountains in Nevada.
The board applied to withdraw the acreage from the potential lease, triggering a two-year ban on new ore leases in the area during the approval process. The proposal now enters a 90-day public comment period, which will fall under the Trump administration.
“The Ruby Mountains are an iconic landscape with exceptional recreational opportunities and valuable fish and wildlife habitat worth preserving for the future,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “Today’s action honors the voices of tribal communities and conservation groups and sportsmen and marks another important step in protecting the precious landscape.”
President Biden speaks at the Department of Labor on December 16, 2024 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch)
The Biden administration’s lease cap does not place limits on mining in the region.
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During Trump’s first administration, the Forest Service conducted a study to determine whether 54,000 acres could be leased for oil and gas drilling in the Ruby Mountains.
The proposal was ultimately dropped in 2019 after a public comment period saw “thousands of comments from the local area, the state of Nevada and across the nation” opposing the idea, according to William Dunkelberger, the forest supervisor who signed the decision.
Great Basin, Nevada, Elko County, Ruby Mountains, Lamoille Canyon. (Dukas/Universal Images Group)
Jenna Padilla, a geologist for the Humboldt-Toiyabe Ruby Mountains District at the time, said geological surveys “show that there is little or no oil potential” in the region, the LA Times reported in 2018.
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It is not clear whether Trump administration will consider potential leases in the region, but such actions could face roadblocks following a new proposal from the Biden administration.
