Fossil fuel critic to run key offshore oil agency for Biden

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The Biden administration is using a new opening at a powerful offshore energy agency to elevate a fossil fuel critic who was previously blocked from a top Interior Department job due to opposition from industry allies oil in the Senate.

Amanda Lefton, director of the Interiors Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, will step down on Jan. 19 after nearly two years at the helm. BOEM oversees leasing for offshore oil, gas, minerals and wind power development, and Lefton led a change in the Biden administration to focus on wind, which led to sales record leases to support the nascent American industry.

His replacement will be Elizabeth Klein, a senior adviser to Secretary Deb Haaland and a strong supporter of renewable energy who had also worked in the Interior during the Clinton and Obama administrations.

The White House intended to appoint Klein as assistant secretary of the interior early in President Bidens’ term, but changed its plans after objections from the senses. Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who come from energy-rich states. Those senators worried that Klein and Haaland herself, an outspoken critic of the oil industry, would be a tough team to work for the oil and gas industry, as The Washington Post reported in 2021.

In his new position, Klein will lead an influential part of the Interior Department, but his appointment does not require Senate confirmation.

Prior to joining the Biden administration, Klein was deputy director of the New York University School of Laws State Energy & Environmental Impact Center, which frequently challenged Trump administration rule changes designed to prop up fossil fuel industries.

Under the Obama administration, she oversaw the creation of the offshore wind rental program that the Biden administration is now trying to supercharge as part of its efforts to fight climate change. As an advisor, her work has included water policy and climate change resilience, and helping Native American tribes manage settlements over water rights claims.

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Klein declined a request for an interview through a spokeswoman. In an interview, Lefton said she was leaving because she had completed her tenure with the agency. I came here to do a pretty ambitious program, and I feel like we did pretty well,” Lefton said, declining to say what she would do next.

At BOEM, Klein will now oversee all offshore oil and gas leases in the United States, a program that has shrunk but still underpins about 15% of the country’s total oil production, according to department data. Energy.

When she was named undersecretary of the interior, Klein came under attack from right-wing groups, including an anonymous website that branded her a key player in the president’s continued war on coal. Obama and in promoting the radical political goals of special environmental interests.

David Hayes, a former aide to Biden who also spent years working with her at New York University and in the Obama administration, said Klein will be able to work with all types of businesses. She is thoughtful and deliberate, and can command a play when she speaks, he said.

She had a complete punch, said Hayes, who spent two years as the president’s special assistant for climate policy. Liz Klein is a pragmatic and effective problem solver.

White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi declined to acknowledge a possible political backlash for the nomination. He said Klein’s years of experience with the department under three different presidents would be invaluable to Haaland, especially as BOEM deals with new legal rental requirements approved in the Climate Spending Bill and fiscal policy last summer.

Having deep technical expertise and an understanding of the inner workings of the agency will be an asset to the secretary in fulfilling the department’s mission, Zaidi said in an interview.

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Representatives for Manchin and Murkowski could not immediately be reached for comment. The two longtime allies and leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee have at times played key roles in approving Bidens’ agenda and nominations. They also criticized the administration for slowing the pace of oil and gas leasing in federal territory because it has focused on wind development.

Zaidi said Lefton was leaving on his own and not at the request of the White House, and that the administration did not foresee any change in strategy for BOEM. He highlighted the administration’s goal of generating 30 gigawatts of electricity from offshore wind power by the end of the decade.

The president’s vision has been clear from day one: there is a tremendous opportunity off our coasts to unlock a source of clean energy, Zaidi said. When we announced our 30 gigawatt goal, people were pretty skeptical. We were able to develop this in a way that exceeded expectations.

Zaidi, who previously worked with Lefton in the New York state government, credited him with helping to achieve this success. During his tenure, Interior approved the country’s first two commercial-scale offshore wind projects, held three offshore wind lease auctions, began an environmental review of the projects and began exploring more opportunities. wind leases in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Maine, Central Atlantic and offshore Oregon, according to the department.

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