"Environmentalists say that leasing public land for fossil fuel production is one of the Obama administration's biggest carbon-polluting programs."

"With the Keystone XL pipeline rejected and Royal Dutch Shell's Arctic drilling plans abandoned, activists have a new agenda for 2016: bringing climate accountability to the federal fossil fuel program.

The Obama administration's sweep of climate policies, from rules curbing power plant emissions to tightening fuel economy standards for cars, has so far bypassed one of the government's biggest carbon-polluting programs: leasing public land to companies for extraction of oil, natural gas and coal. In 2012, federal fossil fuel production released more than 1,340 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent—that's similar to the annual emissions of more than 280 million cars, according to a report by the liberal think-tank Center for American Progress.

This must change if the United States is serious about moving to a low-carbon economy and meeting its goal of reducing emissions 32 percent compared to 2005 levels by 2030, climate campaigners say."

Zahra Hirji reports for InsideClimate News January 5, 2015. [2]