Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing on four bills related to energy production on federal lands and waters. Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) issued the following statement in response:

"As global demand for energy continues to rise, it’s important that we prioritize policies that boost domestic energy production and advance American energy independence. Rather than relying on adversarial nations for our energy supply, we must support our domestic energy sector, which will, in turn, lower costs for consumers, provide good-paying jobs, and produce the cleanest forms of energy found anywhere in the world. I’m proud that the Republican bills considered by the subcommittee today will do just that."

Background

Discussion Draft of H.R. _____, the Comprehensive Offshore Resource Evaluation (CORE) Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to incorporate specific instructions for future comprehensive inventories of oil and gas resources in the Outer Continental Shelf, ensuring that resource assessments include the latest data and methodologies for accurate and reliable estimates.

H.R. 7053, the Orphan Well Grant Flexibility Act of 2024, introduced by U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), clarifies existing law to ensure plugging of orphaned wells can continue efficiently. The bill clarifies that states are not required to, but may, conduct pre-plugging or post-plugging monitoring. By cutting this unnecessary red tape, this bill will unencumber states so that they may plug more orphaned wells.

H.R. 8665, the Supercritical Geothermal Research and Development Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), establishes a supercritical geothermal research program at the Department of Energy and provides grant opportunities for supercritical geothermal technologies. Supercritical geothermal is an experimental technology that requires deep drilling to access dry rocks at temperatures around 400°C or greater and could produce renewable energy at significantly higher capacities than conventional geothermal systems.

H.R. 8954, the Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act of 2024, introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), establishes a revenue-sharing mechanism for renewable energy-producing states and counties and supports conservation efforts to offset the footprint of renewable energy projects on federal lands.