President Joe Biden just dealt a devastating blow to U.S. consumers and our domestic oil and gas industry. Through executive action this week, he permanently banned new oil and gas leasing across 625 million acres in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Far from ensuring stability, this decision pushes the United States toward energy insecurity and will undoubtedly increase energy prices in an already strained U.S. economy.
Throughout his presidency, Biden made frequent dishonest arguments, warning people that climate change would have devastating effects on their lives. John Kerry, his climate czar, and even Greta Thunberg, a renowned climate activist, made similar false arguments to persuade public opinion in favor of eradicating the oil and gas industry. However, the numbers paint a different picture. According to Biden’s own Agency for International Development, climate-related deaths, including from floods, droughts, storms, and wildfires, across the entire globe over the last 100 years have declined 97.5%.
Make no mistake: This moratorium was not a decision rooted in science or a genuine commitment to protecting coastal communities. Instead, it was a calculated political maneuver designed to sabotage President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. Trump campaigned on lowering gas prices, lowering home utility prices, and bolstering domestic energy production, promising to make energy independence a cornerstone of his presidency. Biden’s last-minute actions, taken just 14 days before Trump assumes office, are a desperate attempt to undercut those efforts before they even begin.
Using authority from the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Biden banned all new drilling lease sales along the East Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the West Coast, including Washington, Oregon, and California, and parts of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea. It is no coincidence that these areas align precisely with the regions Trump would want to open for expanded energy production.
For years, Biden has waged a war on the oil and natural gas industry, vowing in 2019 to ban fossil fuels permanently. His 2023 five-year offshore oil and gas lease plan set a record for the fewest federal acres ever offered for lease and the least number of auctions in the program’s history. The plan provided the bare minimum of three lease sales, the fewest since World War II, and was explicitly designed to stifle domestic energy production.
If Biden had his way, he would have banned all future leases. His priorities have been clear, and his legacy has been set: Appeasing the radical Left with “Green New Deal” initiatives was far more important to him than ensuring energy dominance or affordability for American families.
The Biden administration failed to produce a comprehensive energy plan since the Obama-era framework expired in 2022. That is why I introduced H.R. 9472, the Comprehensive Offshore Resource Enhancement Act of 2024. This legislation would enhance national security and energy independence by assessing and mapping untapped offshore energy resources on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. It represents a forward-thinking approach to strengthening the U.S.’s energy future.
Yet Biden’s actions threaten to stifle progress, slashing 25% of U.S. offshore acreage available for possible drilling. His political agenda undermines our energy independence, raises gas prices, and sacrifices the interests of hardworking people for the approval of his radical base.
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While the Left celebrates this latest attack on domestic energy production, the consequences for future generations will be dire. I refuse to stand idly by as our energy security is eroded. As a congressman representing Texas’s 38th Congressional District, the largest energy district in the state and the energy capital of the world, I will fight tirelessly to advance U.S. energy independence and protect our nation’s future.
On Jan. 20, Trump will take office and undo this harmful order. I will stand firmly alongside him to increase energy production, strengthen national security, and reestablish U.S. energy dominance on the global stage. Together, we will ensure a brighter, more prosperous future for the U.S.
Wesley Hunt represents Texas’s 38th Congressional District in the House.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
