Leaked Biden admin “energy security” memo could torpedo key Biden nominee Thomas Catenacci, Fox News
- March 7, 2023
A leaked internal Biden administration memo — which showed officials prioritizing climate change over energy security — could force the White House to pull the plug on a key nominee.
In the Nov. 25 memo, former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Amanda Lefton recommended that the Department of the Interior (DOI) charge energy companies a royalty rate of 18.75%, the highest allowable rate under the law, for a 958,202-acre offshore oil and gas lease sale in Alaska. Lefton acknowledged in the recommendation that charging a lower rate of 16.67% would likely “offer greater energy security,” but wouldn’t properly account for climate change.
“While a 16 ⅔ percent royalty may be more likely to facilitate expeditious and orderly development of OCS resources and potentially offer greater energy security to residents of the State of Alaska, a reasonable balancing of the environmental and economic factors for the American public favors the maximum 18 ¾ percent royalty for Cook Inlet leases,” Lefton wrote in the memo.
And, in September, the watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust filed an ethics complaint against Daniel-Davis, accusing her of violating conflict of interest laws related to the DOI’s move in 2021 to an oil and gas leasing pause in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The group said her previous position at an environmental group had potentially influenced her actions.