Expansion in Gulf of Mexico drilling splits U.S. House panel along party lines
As the Biden administration’s move to scrap new oil and gas leases remains in unsettled legal territory, Democrats and Republicans on a U.S. House panel sharply disagreed about the merits of new energy development in the Gulf of Mexico.
Democrats on the House Natural Resources Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, including Chairman Alan Lowenthal of California, said reducing energy development off the Gulf Coast was one way to drive down emissions from fossil fuels.
Republicans, including ranking member Pete Stauber of Minnesota and southern Louisiana’s Garret Graves, responded that reducing domestic production would not meaningfully lower global emissions because the demand would be filled by other sources.
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden paused new leases both offshore and on federal lands. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty blocked the pause in a June ruling. The administration complied with Doughty’s order and held a lease sale in November that provided 1.7 million acres of new leasing rights in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read more: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2022/01/24/expansion-in-gulf-of-mexico-drilling-splits-u-s-house-panel-along-party-lines/
