COP28: Biden's Hypocrisy on Display as US Steps Up Fossil Fuel Production

COP28 will kick off in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 30 with the aim of evaluating the collective efforts and progress on the path towards implementing the Paris climate change agreements. It appears that Team Biden doesn't have much to boast about.

"At COP21 in 2015, the world agreed to limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels by 2050," reads the message of H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, president-designate for COP28. "To remain on target, science tells us that emissions must be halved by 2030. We only have another seven years to meet that goal. COP28 UAE is a prime opportunity to rethink, reboot, and refocus the climate agenda."

However, it appears that the Biden administration, previously an ardent champion of the climate agenda, is now moving in the opposite direction. As world leaders prepare to meet in Dubai to double down on phasing out fossil fuels, Team Biden announced on Tuesday that it had raised $3.4 million from the sale of oil and gas drilling rights in Wyoming.

What's more, this was just the first in a series of such sales, per the Western press. Similar auctions are due to take place in New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Utah, with the last one being scheduled for December 12, the final day of COP28. All in all, the Interior Department's US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) planned to sell 63 drilling parcels.

Environmental groups have subjected the Biden administration to tough criticism:

"Instead of doing the necessary work to fight climate change, Biden continues to support the expansion of fossil fuels here in the US," Nicole Ghio of Friends of the Earth said in a statement.

Earlier this month, a UN report criticized the governments of the top 20 energy producing countries, including the US, Australia, and Canada, who are "literally doubling down on fossil fuel production."

Western countries have long been at the forefront of climate change campaigning, lectured others of how they must cut greenhouse gas emissions, and created obstacles in the way of the Global South's gas and oil exploration.

In 2021, large European banks slashed financing to fossil fuel companies and projects by 27.6%. In September 2022, US climate czar John Kerry particularly warned investors and energy companies against supporting Africa's fossil fuel projects, saying that they would be unable to recoup their investments beyond 2030. Kerry stressed that the world should reach net-zero emissions in 2050. In response, Sudanese-British billionaire Mo Ibrahim condemned Western countries over preventing African nations from developing their own gas reserves and fighting energy poverty at the Reuters Impact conference in London.

During his speech at the COP27 in November 2022, Joe Biden urged countries to "do more" with regard to climate policies, and boasted a set of measures, including a plan to slash emissions of methane in the US. It appears that the US president does not walk the talk. In October, the American press reported that the US domestic oil production had "hit an all-time high" in the beginning of the month.

Thus, in the first week of October, US oil production reached 13.2 million barrels per day, beating the previous record by 100,000 barrels set in 2020. When it comes to weekly domestic oil production, it doubled from October 2012 to October 2023.