Today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service’s energy and minerals programs. The hearing focused on Obama Administration roadblocks to onshore energy production on public lands and the impacts to job creation and the economy – especially in the West.

The President’s proposed FY 2012 budget includes over $60 billion in tax and fee increases on American oil, natural gas and mineral production. These tax increases will be passed on to consumers – meaning higher energy costs for families and small businesses across the country.

“According to the Department of the Interior's own economic analysis, federal lands contribute $370 billion in economic activity annually, most of it from energy development. If the department had included locatable mineral activity the number would be even higher,” said Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn (CO-05). “The current Administration is not moving in the direction to achieve private sector job growth in these important sectors of the economy, and is too willing to depend on OPEC to make up the nation's shortfall in oil production. The Administration’s policies instead have and will contribute to job loss, further dependence on foreign sources for the energy and mineral needs of the country and severely limit the revenue stream from the development of federal mineral resources.”

Click here to read Subcommittee Chairman Lamborn’s full opening statement.

Get the Facts:

• The oil and natural gas industry supports 488,000 jobs in the West (8.1% of total regional employment).
• Revenue from oil and natural gas production declined by 33% – from $4.2 billion to $2.8 billion – between 2008 to 2010.
• Of the total revenues received, 25- 50% are returned to the state and county where production occurred. This means that a decline in revenue impacts state and local budgets, schools, and transportation projects.
• Onshore leasing has declined in each state and across the West since FY2005. In the first two years of the Obama administration, DOI issued 72% fewer acres than the first two years of the Clinton administration, and 67% fewer acres than the first two years of the Bush administration.

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