WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Roger Williams (TX-25), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, along with Vice Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) and Reps. Pete Stauber (MN-08), Dan Meuser (PA-09), and Aaron Bean (FL-04), wrote to Secretary Deb Haaland of the Department of the Interior (DOI) regarding new prohibitions on oil and gas leases. Chairman Williams issued the following statement.

“Since President Biden stepped into the Oval Office, he has intentionally taken actions that directly harm the American oil and gas industry and the small businesses that support it,” said Chairman Williams. “Main Street plays a pivotal role in this industry, and our Committee has sent letter after letter urging this Administration to consider the needs of American energy independence and the small businesses that play a part in it. Unfortunately, our concerns have been largely ignored, but we will not stop in calling out these ridiculous decisions that hurt the American people. It is past time for President Biden to reconsider his decisions and reverse course.”

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Read the story here.

Read the full letter here.

Read key excerpts from the letter below:

“The House Committee on Small Business (the Committee) writes to investigate the Biden Administration’s rulemaking prohibiting new oil and gas leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), prohibit new coal mining leases in the Powder River Basin, as well as its decision to block the Ambler Road project. These actions, especially when taken together, are another assault in President Biden’s war on American energy and resource independence. The Committee is incredibly concerned about the disparate impact these decisions will have on small businesses, not only in the energy and resource sectors, but also in the surrounding local communities.

“Since 2021, President Biden has attempted to remove 11 million acres of land in the Gulf of Mexico from lease sale 261, blocked the licensure of liquified natural gas projects, and now prohibited oil extraction on 13 million acres in Alaska. Prohibiting just one major future oil and gas project will increase the price of oil and gas for all American consumers. Prohibiting multiple oil and gas projects will have a substantial impact on the cost of energy. Additionally, coal leasing bans will further increase energy prices. In total, the Biden Administration has functionally prohibited oil extraction on over 41 million acres of land.

“Despite intentionally taking actions to harm the oil and gas industry, the Biden Administration claims that oil and gas companies are ‘price gouging’ American consumers. In reality, the heightened prices Americans are forced to pay for energy, gas, or oil come directly as a result of the President’s actions. Small businesses are a cornerstone of the oil and gas industry, as well as the industries which support it. This Committee has repeatedly warned the Biden Administration that its rules and decisions were harming American industry, small businesses, and consumers, yet they continue to bombard the oil and gas industry with copious rules and restrictions.

“In addition to the prohibition on leasing in Alaska, the Biden Administration prohibited the construction of Ambler Road through a similar region of Alaska, which would shut down efforts towards a strategic mineral mining operation, the Ambler Mining District. Notwithstanding concerns that the Administration is intentionally killing potential business opportunities for the energy sector, with this action the Biden Administration also ended numerous opportunities to develop local small businesses around oil and gas operations, and the potential extraction of copper and zinc deposits.

“What’s more, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) indicated it would no longer issue coal mining leases in the Powder River Basin. For decades small communities and businesses have grown to support the existing mining operations—this move paves the way for the death of these towns, businesses and communities, as current leases eventually expire and the path for future growth is halted. The way of life in these communities will be upended in a similar manner to what we have seen across the Rust Belt and Appalachia when manufacturing and mining jobs left those regions.

“As with nearly every other action the Biden Administration has taken related to fossil fuels and mining, these actions will cost American consumers and businesses money without achieving any real environmental benefit. Cars still need oil, batteries still need mineral resources, and power plants still need natural gas and coal. Removing American oil, gas, coal, and mineral resources from the supply chain has no impact other than exporting greenhouse gas emissions abroad—where environmental protections are likely weaker—taking money out of the hands of American small businesses and putting it in the pocket of an OPEC nation, Russian oligarch, or Chinese state-owned business.”

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