The irrational environmentalist

Fuel Fix: 

Environmentalists on Tuesday accused the Obama administration of illegally allowing oil companies to keep drilling on public lands during the government shutdown, even as officials erect barricades around national monuments and close park gates to visitors.

Continuing to allow oil and gas drilling on federal lands violates the Anti-Deficiency Act, said the Phoenix-based Center for Biological Diversity, citing a 19th century lawthat bars the government from incurring new financial obligations in the absence of congressionally appropriated funding.

Federal agencies have cited the law in decision to furlough workers, close national parks and cut off energy data streams.

At the Interior Department, the Bureau of Land Management has stopped issuing new and revised permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands. Offshore permits are still flowing out of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which is tapping non-appropriated funds to keep the work going.

Related story: Energy industry beginning to feel shutdown’s bite

But whether on land or offshore, existing oil and gas wells can keep flowing and drilling work can keep going too.
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The argument makes no sense.  The government is facing a reduced ability to fund its operations so the environmentalist want it to further reduce revenues by cutting off the money it gets from oil and gas royalties?   They should instead be looking for ways to increase drilling so they could increase revenues and offset the costs of the shutdown.  What we are seeing here is another example of the anti energy left looking for ways to create artificial scarcity so they can push their inefficient energy agenda.  The fact is that if we unleashed the energy business we could greatly reduce the federal deficit and add thousands of jobs.