During the 2020 campaign, President Joe Biden promised to combat climate change by “banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters” — and the week he took office in January, Biden issued an executive order pausing oil and gas leases on federal land as part of the administration’s effort to “combat the climate crisis by example.”

But experts and environmental advocates say that the moratorium is likely to have little effect. Moreover, even as a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report said governments must immediately end fossil fuel development, Biden has yet to use his executive authority to take steps that could more quickly do that.

The ramifications of Biden’s initial moves will likely be limited because fossil fuel companies, fearing such a ban under a potential Democratic administration, sought and received approval for thousands of drilling permits on millions of acres of federal land during the Trump years, which they can develop at any time. Several energy executives have said that this stockpile will keep the companies occupied at least until the next presidential election, without needing to seek any new leases in order to continue development.