Joe Biden Is Still Pushing to Expand Offshore Drilling
Joe Biden claims to believe the science on climate change. So why is his administration declaring that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report “does not present sufficient cause" to stop expanding oil drilling?

US president Joe Biden participates in a conference call on climate change in Washington, DC, 2021. (Al Drago / Getty Images)
President Joe Biden has been touring climate-ravaged areas of America, warning that climate change is a “code red” emergency for the planet. And yet, his administration has continued to boost fossil fuel projects and is now preparing to vastly expand offshore drilling.
The White House argues that a court order it opposes and is appealing requires federal officials to lease more than 78 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for fossil fuel exploration. Environmental groups, however, assert that federal law gives the administration broad discretion over whether or not to hold such sales.
In fact, Biden’s officials have instead used that power to officially declare that the warnings in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report “does not present sufficient cause” to reevaluate the drilling plan.