Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on the Biden administration's unprecedented delay in releasing an offshore energy plan, one that cuts proposed sales to historically low levels. Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) issued the following statement in response:

"As Biden Administration wages an all-out war on American energy, millions of families across the country are struggling to fill up their gas tanks and make ends meet. Sadly, rather than heeding the call to unleash our vast energy potential, this Administration has once again sided with radical climate activists over American families by introducing the smallest five-year offshore leasing plan in program history. This decision was a slap in the face to every hardworking American who will be forced to pay the price. Time and time again, this Administration has opted to rely on adversaries overseas for oil and gas, rather than develop our own domestic energy resources. As the Chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, I know that energy independence is the foundation of a healthy economy, so I will continue to fight to unleash America’s full energy potential and push back on this Administration’s attacks on gas and oil."

Background

The Department of the Interior's (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is responsible for issuing routine and on time five-year plans for offshore oil and natural gas leasing. The Biden administration has failed the American taxpayer and was more than 450 days late releasing their five-year plan last month which included a record-low number of potential sales. BOEM's publication of the plan threatens investment in American natural resources and breeds uncertainty for American energy consumers, while putting our adversaries squarely in the driver's seat of global energy production.

Notably, the BOEM proposed plan includes only three lease sales exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico planning area and does not contain any sales off resource-rich Alaska. The proposed plan also contains the fewest sales in history, particularly concerning at a time of unrest in the Middle East, Western Africa and Eastern Europe, all of whom hold a stake in global oil production and trade.

Today's hearing allowed members to question BOEM Director Liz Klein about this inadequate and irresponsible plan, as well as hear from experts in the field who provided deeper context around the problems with the proposed program. 

Over the course of the 118th Congress, the House Committee on Natural Resources has worked to support American energy independence through the passage of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. The committee has also held field hearings, advanced other pieces of legislation to remove regulatory burdens and conducted oversight of the Biden administration's policies. Last month, the committee also considered the Bringing Reliable Investment into Domestic Gulf Energy Production Act, which would mandate four offshore oil and gas sales to be held in 2024 and 2025 and would help reduce regulatory burdens and delays to American energy production caused by the Biden administration.