Comer Blasts Biden’s Move to Restrict U.S. Energy Production; Demands Briefing from Department of the Interior

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today criticized the Biden Administration’s last-ditch effort to thwart President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to unleash American-made energy production. In a letter to Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland, Chairman requested an immediate briefing regarding President Biden’s executive memorandum instructing the DOI to restrict hundreds of millions of acres of U.S. ocean from oil and gas drilling.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is conducting oversight of President Biden’s decision to permanently ban future oil and natural gas production in 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory. Despite promising a ‘peaceful and orderly transition,’ President Biden has brazenly attempted to disrupt President-elect Trump’s robust American energy priorities by further discouraging domestic energy production through this action at the very end of his term.  We request a briefing to understand how the Department of the Interior (DOI) plans to implement the ban of offshore oil and natural gas leasing in light of the incoming administration’s intention to immediately end it,” wrote Chairman Comer.

President Biden has now closed “670 million acres of U.S. lands, waters, and oceans to oil and gas drilling – more than any president in history.” Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the president has broad authority to “withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf.” During his first term, President-elect Trump sought to reverse former President Obama’s offshore leasing bans from 2015 and 2016, but these efforts were tied up in legal battles with environmental groups. These prolonged disputes hindered the Trump Administration’s progress toward energy independence. President Biden’s expansive ban appears designed to provide environmental activists a legal pathway to challenge President-elect Trump’s energy agenda.

“The closure of over 90 percent of the acres just 14 days before President-elect Trump’s inauguration is a blatantly political and erratic last-gasp attempt to salvage misguided aims of the Green New Deal by raising long-term energy costs on American consumers. This decision disrupts the smooth transition of an incoming administration seeking to fully recognize the potential of American energy for the benefit of our consumers, our companies, and our allies,” continued Chairman Comer. “DOI plays a crucial role in the management of our country’s offshore energy resources. When President Biden’s ban was announced, you defended it, in contrast to President Biden’s assurance that his administration would work with President-elect Trump’s team. Because of the upcoming inauguration of President Trump later this month and the end of the Biden Administration, the Committee requests a briefing immediately from DOI to provide clarity on the politically-motivated ban which will require time and resources of the incoming administration and the 119th Congress to remedy.”

Read the letter to DOI Secretary Deb Haaland here.