Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management: 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program – “The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is responsible for administering the leasing program for oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and developing a five-year schedule of lease sales designed to “best meet national energy needs for the five- year period following [the schedule’s] approval….” Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act, 43 United States Code (U.S.C.) 1344. On January 29, 2015, BOEM published the 2017–2022 Draft Proposed Program (DPP), the first stage of lease sale schedule development…The Proposed Program is the second of three proposals required to develop the 2017–2022 Program, and was informed by both the DPP analysis and the public comments received to date. Included in this Proposed Program is an analysis of the lease sale options identified by the Secretary in the DPP as feasible for potential inclusion in an approved Program. The development of the The Five-Year Program is an important component of the President’s comprehensive energy strategy to allow for safe and responsible domestic oil and natural gas production as a means to support economic growth and job creation, and enhance energy security. In 2014, the United States (U.S.) produced 49 quadrillion British thermal units (Btus) of oil and gas, the highest total level of oil and gas production in U.S. history. Even as the U.S. experiences a rapid increase in unconventional onshore oil and gas production, OCS production has been and will continue to be an important source of oil and gas for decades to come. While offshore oil and gas exploration and development will never be totally risk-free,the U.S. Department of the Interior (USDOI) has made, and is continuing to make, substantial reforms to improve the safety and environmental protection of OCS oil and gas activity since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill. Working with a host of stakeholders, USDOI has developed and implemented reforms and improvements designed to reduce the risk of another loss of well control in our oceans, and enhance our collective ability to respond to such incidents. With strong regulatory oversight and appropriate measures to protect human safety and the environment, offshore oil and gas development can be conducted safely and responsibly…”

• See also via the IB Times: – Buried in the BOEM report’s fine print, though, were footnotes shedding light on how the bureau came to its conclusions: it used studies from the same fossil fuel industry that could benefit from the expansion. Eight of the nine economic analyses cited by government regulators in their report were produced by authors or organizations with links to the fossil fuel industry — which has been lobbying the federal government on drilling issues in the lead-up to a decision…the fossil fuel industry’s links to the studies underscored concerns about so-called cognitive capture: the growing effort by industries to quietly shape the basic research on which public policies are predicated…In the months before the controversial move, fossil fuel companies such as the Shell Oil unit of Royal Dutch Shell and industry associations such as the American Petroleum Institute (API) lobbied the federal government on drilling, alongside an advocacy group that has links to Koch Industries. Although the government backed off a plan to open up drilling off the Atlantic coast of the U.S. Southeast, the move to expand drilling in the Gulf and near Alaska was a win for the oil and gas industry. However, the decision in March prompted protests both fromnational environmental groups concerned about the prospect of increased carbon emissions and from local activists in the Gulf Coast region who are worried about the possibility of new spills…”