The federal government owns roughly 640 million acres, or 28 percent of the United States. More than 90 percent of those lands are located in the 11 contiguous western states and Alaska. Senators from Western States across the country recently voiced concerns over the abuse of that land during a Senate Committee on Energy and
Read More...After delaying for more than a year, the Biden administration’s Department of Interior finally released its five-year program for federal offshore leasing – a plan that includes the lowest number of auctions in the program’s history – even as prices at the pump continue to rise. The plan is a stark difference from the typical
Read More...The Biden administration recently unveiled its latest blockade of oil and natural gas production on federal lands that could cost Colorado thousands of jobs over the next two decades. In response to several “sue and settle” lawsuits from environmental groups attempting to stop all production on federal lands, the Bureau of Land Management released resource
Read More...To provide a “balanced approach to development,” the Department of Interior released a laundry list of regulations for oil and gas leasing on public lands. However, the proposal is the latest attempt by the Biden administration to sideline critical energy development. In the past year, the administration has repeatedly pushed mixed messages on domestic production
Read More...Interior Sec. Deb Haaland’s Congressional testimony this week suggested that Biden Administration would not be increasing the pace of oil and natural gas leasing on federal lands any time soon, despite Congressional pressure and statutory requirements. A core issue during the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing was the Department of Interior’s continued refusal
Read More...While the Biden administration consistently claims it has made emissions reduction a significant priority, its actions behind the scenes with permitting delays, a rapid decline in oil and natural gas leases, and other regulatory roadblocks tell a different story. These backlogs are obstructing growth across the energy value chain and preventing progress on the very
Read More...After the Biden administration claimed for months that the oil and gas industry was sitting on 9,000 unused permits to drill – and consequently, holding back domestic production – Politico reported that the “9,000 permits” figure is based on faulty data. Allegedly, the discrepancy was caused by issues with the Department of Interior’s record keeping,
Read More...The oil and natural gas industry continues to propel New Mexico’s strong economy, driving record revenue for fiscal year 2023. The New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) recently released its budget recommendations for fiscal year 2024, showing the tremendous recovery the oil and natural gas industry has had since the pandemic and New Mexico’s long-term
Read More...At a campaign event in New York on Sunday, President Joe Biden bragged about stopping oil and natural gas drilling during his time in the White House and vowed to block future production. Biden made the remarks in an apparent back-and-forth with a member of the crowd who was pressing him to stop development in
Read More...On Wednesday, President Biden will travel to Colorado to attend an event at Camp Hale with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and other elected officials where he is expected to designate a new national monument and to tout the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Economy Act. But the timing of the visit is interesting given that the greatest
Read More...The comment period for the next five-year Outer Continental Shelf offshore leasing plan came to a close this past week, bringing the U.S. Department of Interior another step closer to finalizing a plan and resuming leasing in the Gulf of Mexico, despite repeated delays and obstruction throughout the process. Though even with the close of
Read More...An E&E News analysis of the U.S. Department of Interior‘s proposed 5-year National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program finds that if the Biden administration followed through on its threats to reduce or eliminate offshore leasing, it would cause negative effects for consumers and American energy security. As E&E News writes: “The Biden
Read More...After President Biden ignored invitations to see first-hand how hardworking Americans across the country produce, transport and supply energy from the well head to your home, choosing instead to visit Saudi Arabia and attempt to negotiate OPEC into increasing its oil production to lower U.S. energy prices, OPEC responded this week by announcing one of
Read More...The Inflation Reduction Act that was dropped much to the surprise of just about everybody on Wednesday night is a mixed bag when it comes to provisions that could impact U.S. oil and natural gas development. At a time when record inflation is being largely driven by high energy prices and American consumers are paying
Read More...During a recent Senate Appropriations hearing, Interior Sec. Deb Haaland admitted that under her leadership, the Department of Interior does not consider rising energy costs in its decision making concerning the federal oil and natural gas program. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) asked Sec. Haaland directly if she was “aware that a no lease sale option
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