Rep. Chuck Fleischman, R-Tenn., discusses Biden’s energy policy, the Supreme Court’s ruling on EPA regulation and the implications of overturning Roe v. Wade.
The Biden administration offered no explanation after missing its own deadline to plan future oil and gas sales on Thursday.
Interior Minister Deb Haaland promised during a Senate hearing on May 19 to issue a legally mandated program outlining proposed offshore lease sales over the next five years by Thursday. On Wednesday, Department of the Interior (DOI) spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz confirmed that the agency is “on track” to issue the plan by Thursday, according to E&E News.
FIRST PUBLIC LAND OIL SALES UNDER BIDEN NET $22 MILLION FROM ENERGY COMPANIES
Schwartz declined to comment on the delay in response to an inquiry by Fox News Digital. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
An announcement was scheduled to take place on Thursday but was postponed for an unknown reason, administration officials told Reuters on Friday.
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaks during a news conference on July 22, 2021 in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski/Associated Press)
“President Biden is determined to choke off American oil and natural gas production,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee member John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital in a statement. “He has now failed to comply with the law and prepare a final five-year leasing plan by yesterday’s deadline. This means the federal government will not be offering new offshore oil and gas lease sales this year.”
“This will be the first year since 1958 that has happened. Instead, the Biden administration spent its time courting foreign dictators,” he continued. “The White House is asking countries like Russia, Iran and Venezuela for oil. It’s an absolute disgrace.”
Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, the DOI is required to periodically issue five-year sales plans for offshore oil and gas leases. Historically, the plans have been published on time by Democratic and Republican administrations and have included more than 10 lease sales spanning federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and off the coast of Alaska.
The last plan, which went into effect in 2017, expired on Thursday. Without a plan, the offshore lease sales that brought in more than 1.7 million barrels of oil per day last year cannot take place.
Frank Macchiarola of the American Petroleum Institute says U.S. oil supply isn’t where it’s been since the end of the pandemic.
“Interior’s failure to meet its own June 30 deadline to launch the proposed program is yet another reminder that the administration has failed in its statutory duty to develop and maintain an offshore oil and gas leasing program.” Interior had 17 months to release the final Program, not just the proposed program that they promised would come out yesterday,” National Ocean Industries Association President Eric Milito told Fox News Digital.
“No other administration has failed like this,” he continued. “Up until now, every administration, whether Democrat or Republican, has recognized the critical, strategic benefits of continued oil and gas production in U.S. offshore waters, which are achieved through an ongoing national leasing program.”
Milito added that the administration’s actions represented a “deliberate obstruction” of U.S. energy development. He said they would lead to higher gasoline prices and negatively impact national security, global geopolitics, energy security and high-paying jobs across the country.
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Since taking office, the Biden administration has conducted a single offshore sale, which was later rejected by a federal court on environmental grounds. The administration canceled three other sales outlined in the now-expired plan.
Republican lawmakers and industry groups have repeatedly blamed the administration’s climate agenda for near-record high gasoline prices. The average price of gasoline hit $4.84 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA data.
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