Fossil fuel production on public lands inflicts a heavy environmental toll

America’s public lands are among the nation’s biggest sources of oil and gas — and the pollution that comes from extracting them. Oil and gas interests are pushing hard to gain even greater access to federal oil and gas reserves. The failed Manchin-Barrasso Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 would have increased access to public lands — primarily in the western United States — for drilling. Meanwhile, president-elect Trump has explicitly stated his intent to expand drilling and fracking on public lands.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees approximately 245 million acres of public lands and 710 million acres of federal subsurface mineral estate nationwide. Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976 and the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) of 1920, these lands are managed for multiple uses, including oil and gas leasing. Today, nearly 90% of BLM land is open to oil and gas leasing, with vast swaths located in major basins such as the Permian Basin and Greater Green River Basin.

However, the environmental toll of this activity raises significant concerns. Oil, gas and coal produced from federally owned reserves produce greenhouse gases at levels that rival those of major industrialized nations. Methane leaks from orphan wells and drilling operations further exacerbate climate impacts while posing significant risks to human health, particularly for communities near extraction sites. And pollution from extraction of fossil fuels from federal reserves fouls the air, water and land.

Before we loosen permitting rules for extraction of publicly owned fossil fuels, or dramatically expand leasing, it’s important to understand the impacts that extraction already imposes on our environment. 

Climate pollution 

Production, transportation and combustion of fossil fuels from federally owned oil and gas accounted for more than 20 percent of the U.S. climate emissions from 2005 to 2015. If public lands managed by the U.S. federal government were a country, its greenhouse gas emissions would rank fifth globally.  

Oil and gas production on public lands contributes to climate change through direct emissions, such as those from drilling and venting, and indirect emissions, resulting from transportation, processing and combustion of fossil fuels. Together, these processes leave a heavy environmental footprint. 

In 2021, public lands contributed 11 percent of the nation’s natural gas production and 6 percent of its oil production. The total carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions from oil and gas activities on federal lands — including extraction, processing and end-use — amounted to approximately 428 million metric tons. To put this into perspective, that’s equal to the annual emissions of nearly 100 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles. 

This staggering figure reflects carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released, including methane and nitrous oxide. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a particularly potent greenhouse gas with a warming potential over 80 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Alarmingly, it leaks extensively from production sites and orphaned wells, further amplifying climate impacts. On federal oil and gas leases alone, an estimated 151 billion cubic feet of methane is wasted annually through venting and flaring. 

But the actual scale of waste may be far worse. Research by the Environmental Defense Fund and CarbonTracker reveals that operators in the Permian Basin are venting, flaring and leaking methane at rates nearly three times higher than EPA estimates. Such discrepancies highlight the urgent need for stricter monitoring and enforcement. 

This rampant waste has direct consequences for nearby communities, U.S. taxpayers and the global climate. 

Orphaned wells: A legacy of pollution

Orphaned oil and gas wells — abandoned and without responsible operators — pose an escalating threat to both the environment and public health. Over 16,000 orphaned wells exist on federal lands, leaking methane and other harmful pollutants.

Methane emissions from these wells not only drive climate change but also degrade air quality by forming ground-level (or tropospheric) ozone and particulate pollution. Tropospheric ozone is not emitted directly into the air, rather it is formed when nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) chemically react with one another in the presence of sunlight. Exposure to these air pollutants, particularly ozone, has been linked to respiratory issues, cardiovascular diseases and premature births, and affects communities near drilling sites as well as people subjected to regional-scale air pollution from those sites.

The future of fossil fuel extraction on public lands

The growing threat of global warming and public health impacts of fossil fuel production should necessitate reducing drilling on public lands and enhancing protections for the public and environment when drilling does take place. Unfortunately, the nation may be moving in the opposite direction, with the incoming Trump administration likely to further increase federal oil and gas leasing and reduce environmental protections. 

Public lands are a shared resource, entrusted to the federal government for stewardship in the public interest. To uphold this responsibility, policymakers should prioritize reforms that curb emissions and enhance transparency. 

The oil and gas industry has largely evaded accountability for its environmental harms, benefiting from outdated regulations and insufficient oversight. Until recently, federal bonds (payments intended to ensure that money is available to clean up well sites once drilling is complete) and royalties (compensation to the public for the value of the fossil fuels that are extracted) hadn’t been significantly increased since updates in 1960 and 1988, respectively. As a result, operators have profited from the extraction of public resources while taxpayers have borne the burden of the associated environmental, health and economic damages. 

Transparency around the impacts of extraction has also been lacking. Until recently, federal agencies provided limited data on carbon emissions and environmental degradation associated with fossil fuel extraction on public lands. The opacity hindered public engagement in decision-making processes, from resource management planning to lease sales and permitting, effectively sidelining the communities most affected and the public at large. 

In 2023, the Biden administration released updated Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emission and Climate Change, offering recommendations for federal agencies to better assess and disclose climate impacts. Improving transparency might shed light on the impacts of expanded drilling for the climate and the environment. 

In 2024, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released a report expanding on prior emissions and sequestration estimates for federal lands from 2005 to 2022. The findings reveal that while nationwide emissions from federal lands have decreased over time, climate variability and change have started to impact the rate of carbon sequestration. 

We already know, however, that a major expansion of drilling on federal lands will wreak havoc on the climate. Assuming that leasing returns to the fastest pace it has experienced over the last decade, oil and gas leasing could increase cumulative global greenhouse emissions by 1.2 billion metric tons of CO₂ equivalent over the 2024-2050 period. This figure represents approximately 0.2% of current annual global greenhouse gas emissions.

The likelihood that the Trump administration will pursue weakening of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and expedited approval for new oil and gas leases creates new risks to federal lands, ecosystems and communities reliant on these environments. As the new administration and a new Congress take office, it is more important than ever to keep those risks front and center.