Clinton vows to boost US royalties on fossil fuels

OREANDA-NEWS. June 02, 2016. Likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton today promised to increase the longstanding 12.5pc royalty rate the US charges companies that extract oil, gas and coal from onshore federal lands.

Clinton's campaign today said she would ensure taxpayers are "getting a fair deal" by raising royalty rates, which lag below the 16.67pc and 18.75pc royalty rates charged by most western US states. The campaign also said Clinton would close "loopholes" and make sure future leasing decisions account for the accelerated pace of renewable energy development.

Clinton's campaign pledge puts her closely in line with President Barack Obama, who in his final year in office has proposed modest changes to federal leasing practices. But her stance will disappoint some environmental activists who hoped Clinton would ban fossil fuel production on public lands, as a way to limit greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.

But her stance sets her far apart from the presumptive Republican nominee. Donald Trump last week made increasing energy extraction on federal lands, which he says hold \\$50 trillion worth of "untapped" oil and gas, a centerpiece of his energy platform. In a speech at an oil industry conference, Trump said he would remove regulatory obstacles to developing these resources and criticized federal renewable energy subsidies.

The Clinton campaign, in contrast, today outlined a strategy for increasing renewable energy production on federal lands tenfold within 10 years, in part by speeding up the permitting process for new renewable energy projects. Clinton would also increase renewable energy development on military bases and encourage community-based solar projects on public lands, her campaign said.

Clinton also supports the Obama administration decision this year to launch a comprehensive review of the federal coal leasing program, the campaign said. The US Interior Department earlier this year imposed a moratorium on new federal coal leasing that is expected to last for three years, while it reviews whether to increase royalty rates to account for environmental costs of coal mining.

The campaign said Clinton opposes offshore oil and gas development in the Arctic and the Atlantic, a stance slightly more aggressive than the Obama administration. The Obama administration earlier this year proposed to keep the Atlantic off-limits to new oil and gas drilling through 2022, but to hold three small offshore lease sales for the Arctic from 2020-22.