Biden admin official leading green airplane initiative owns an oil well

A senior Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) official leading the White House’s green airplane push owns an oil well in Wyoming, the Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday.

FAA administrator Michael Whitaker’s financial disclosure form, made public this month, shows he owns an oil well in Uinta County, Wyoming, and leases it to Hilcorp Energy, the U.S.’ largest privately owned oil company, the outlet reported. Whitaker, who has tightened a variety of fuel efficiency standards for commercial airplanes while running the FAA, claimed the well was worth as much as $100,000 and reported $5,000 in annual royalty earnings from his leasing arrangement with Hilcorp.

“We are taking a large step forward to ensure the manufacture of more fuel-efficient airplanes, reduce carbon pollution, and reach our goal of net-zero emissions by 2050,” Whitaker said in a February press release touting the FAA’s new fuel efficiency standards.

FAA administrator Michael Whitaker, spearheading the @KamalaHarris admin’s quest to transition the aviation industry away from oil reliance, also owns an oil well in WY, which he leases to the largest privately held oil company in the United Stateshttps://t.co/sjCx40kE27

— Andrew Bostom, MD, MS (@andrewbostom) August 28, 2024

The February regulations are part of the FAA’s Aviation Climate Action Plan that aims to develop a “net-zero [emission] sustainable aviation system by 2050.”

“This is exactly the kind of thing that gets everyday people furious because the people who are constantly turning the ratchet up to make their gas more expensive, their car more expensive, their airline ticket to see family more expensive, to limit what they can buy at the grocery store because it doesn’t align with certain green targets—are globe-hopping in private jets, owning oil wells, and living life with abandon,” O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers, told the Free Beacon.

Environmental groups Ceres and Clean Air Task Force (CATF) have criticized Hilcorp for its emissions profile, publishing a study in June showing Hilcorp was the U.S.’ largest emitter of methane and third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the Free Beacon reported. Both groups work closely with the Biden administration, with CATF technology and markets director John Thompson serving on the White House’s Environmental Quality task force, and Ceres CEO Mindy Lubber meeting with the administration seven times, according to visitor logs.

The FAA and Hilcorp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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