During last night’s State of the Union, President Obama claimed his Administration has been actively working to speed up Applications for Permits to Drill (APDs) for energy producers on federal lands:

“That’s why my Administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits.”

But facts are stubborn things and that statement simply is not true. Under President Obama’s leadership, it has taken on average 30 percent longer, compared to the previous four years, to approve new drilling permits.

The Obama Administration is playing fast and loose with the facts by obfuscating the difference between the lengths of time it takes BLM to complete an APD with the total time an APD takes to be approved. In fact, President Obama has added new burdensome regulations, which has bogged down energy producers in mounds of new red tape and paperwork, increasing their average processing time by 76 percent (see chart).

If President Obama wants to see how APDs should be approved, he needs to look no further than the state of North Dakota, which has increased their oil production by nearly 800% and can approve permits to drill in 10 days rather than 307.

This is just the latest example of how the Obama Administration is misleading the American people and being disingenuous about their desire for increased energy production on federal lands.

###

Printable PDF of this document