Young People Are Demanding an End to Oil and Gas Drilling, but the US and UK Aren’t Delivering

Zanagee Artis, Elijah McKenzie-Jackson
Thu, November 2, 2023 


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The United States and the United Kingdom have long stood as central participants in the G7, NATO, and the United Nations. Both countries hold disproportionate power in the shaping of geopolitics, global energy policy, and humanity’s collective future on earth. But despite their grand governmental portfolios, the US and the UK are not producing the boldest, most progressive solutions to tackle the climate crisis and achieve environmental justice. People are now waking up to the ugly reality that de-growth can be elusive when the status quo benefits wealthy individuals and corporations.

In September, we took to the streets of New York City for the March to End Fossil Fuels. With around 75,000 people, from Alaska to the Amazon and more, we demanded that President Biden use his executive powers to stop federal approvals of fossil fuel projects, phase out fossil fuel production on public lands and waters, and provide a just transition to renewable energy.

For us, climate action is more than mobilizing our generation; it’s a wake-up call to everyone to say we need to address the roots of climate destruction — racism, capitalism, and colonialism — to make necessary changes for the future. And we need our leaders to listen.

After a harrowing summer of climate devastation, President Biden and UK  were among the leaders who chose not to attend the UN Climate Ambition Summit. Now they’re plowing forward with new offshore drilling projects, despite the climate fallout and mass opposition.

In 2020, President Biden vowed: “No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore.” But the Biden administration has just finalized its Five-Year Program for offshore drilling. The reduction in the number of lease sales from 11 to 3 in the final program is a testament to the climate movement’s pressure on the Biden administration; however, the program also opens vast swaths of public waters in the Gulf of Mexico to new leases.

Scientists have repeatedly stated that we cannot develop any new fossil fuels infrastructure if we want to avoid irreversible and catastrophic climate change. This past spring, many expressed outrage for new fossil fuel projects when the approval of the ConocoPhillips Willow project in Alaska — the biggest fossil fuel development ever proposed on federal lands — ignited opposition from over 5.2 million people.

Investments from the Inflation Reduction Act are making major strides toward electrification and clean energy deployment, but we cannot achieve environmental justice without phasing out fossil fuels. Ahead of the Five-Year Program announcement, 204 organizations wrote to the Biden administration to call for a program with no new leases for oil and gas drilling. Members of Congress, led by Representatives Pallone and Grijalva, wrote a letter asking President Biden to do the same. At a time when the Gulf Coast is experiencing record-breaking ocean temperatures and unprecedented wildfires caused by climate change, we need to stop offshore drilling, not expand it.

Lease sales in the program would not yield new oil and gas after 2030, the year by which the administration has pledged to cut emissions by 50%. Meanwhile, the UK recently approved the Rosebank project, new offshore drilling in the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea, slated to extract oil until 2050. Such an extensive commitment to fossil fuel production, amid the global imperative for renewable energy alternatives, is reckless and dangerous. Adding fuel to the fire, Prime Minister Sunak’s government just announced a walk-back of some key domestic policies to meet the UK’s net-zero target for 2050.

Rosebank is a collaborative drilling project developed and operated by Equinor, Norway’s sovereign oil and gas company, which owns 80% of the project, and Ithaca Energy, which owns the remaining 20%. Resulting emissions from the combustion of oil and gas would be equivalent to the total annual CO2 emissions of the over 700 million people in the 28 nations with the lowest income globally. That is staggering, and it is past time for self-described “leading democracies” to choose climate and communities over industry.

The UK and US both possess an excess of fossil fuels: The UK exports 80% of oil and 61% of gas from the North Sea; the US is set to reach record production in 2023 and 2024 while becoming a net exporter. This reality makes clear that approvals for new fossil fuels do not contribute to reducing energy costs, bolstering energy independence, or supporting development in the Global South; instead, they deepen Western reliance on dirty energy. Not to mention, demand is slated to drop significantly in the US under new clean energy policies.

There is a disturbing discrepancy between what people are demanding and what our leaders are doing. It is a divide that extends beyond ideological differences, age, and background. It is reflected in the very system of Western society and politics. After years of talks about the climate crisis, we are ready for action. President Biden, Prime Minister Sunak, and leaders around the world must end the era of fossil fuels and usher in a transition to justly sourced renewable energy.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue