• Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) criticized the Biden administration for turning down a recommendation for an oil leasing sale that Interior staff concluded would improve energy security.
• Manchin was responding to an Interior Department memo that shows the agency explored charging a lower royalty for offshore oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Cook Inlet in order to lure more bidders but declined to due to climate change concerns.
• “I am appalled by its contents, which make crystal clear that this administration is literally putting their radical climate agenda ahead of the needs of the people of Alaska and the United States,” Manchin said in a statement.

Tagged: Climate