Under current leases, the United States could be harvesting fossil fuels from federal land for 25-39 more years, well beyond the depletion of the global carbon budget to keep worldwide temperature rise limited to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth. “Our analysis found that for all fossil fuels, production from lands and waters already leased to industry would outlast the 1.5°C carbon budget by several decades, and the 2°C budget by years to decades,” according to the report.
The report finds that under current federal leases, production of crude oil would last 39 years, coal would last 25 years, and natural gas would last 28 years. By contrast, the carbon budget for a 1.5-degree future would be exceeded in 2021 and the carbon budget for a 2-degree future in 2036.
“Importantly, every new lease would extend production horizons even further into the future. As previous studies suggest, federal fossil fuel leasing policy should be aligned with U.S. climate goals. The analysis strongly suggests that staying within the global carbon budgets will likely require not only ending new federal leases, but also keeping significant amounts of already leased federal fossil fuels in the ground,” the report concludes.
The Interior Department has placed a moratorium on new coal leasing on federal lands pending a study of the program.
