The House Natural Resources Committee (HNR) recently advanced its portion of the upcoming “one big, beautiful reconciliation bill,” focusing on measures that restore a proper balance between energy development and conservation of federal lands. By stimulating investment in drilling, mining, and energy generation on public lands, the markup is estimated to result in $20.2 billion in savings and revenue over the next decade to reduce our unsustainable federal deficit, create thousands of jobs, and bolster national security.
America’s abundant oil and gas resources provide the foundation of a prosperous US economy and serve as our most significant comparative advantages in the global energy landscape. According to the EIA, petroleum and natural gas will remain two of the world’s largest energy sources through 2050. If we’re not providing this demand, adversaries like Russia and Venezuela with far less environmental oversight will gladly fill the void.
Driven by what appeared to be ideological virtue signaling rather than global realities, the Biden administration attempted to halt federal oil and gas leases. When courts forced the administration to resume leases, it doubled down by slow-walking permits and withdrawing large swaths of federal waters from future leases. HNR’s proposal reverses the prior administration’s regulatory assault while ensuring the Department of the Interior (DOI) holds quarterly auctions – a long-standing statutory requirement. Not only will this attract the investment needed to reduce energy costs domestically, but it will increase the supply of affordable US oil in global markets, cutting into the Russian war machine’s primary source of revenue. Furthermore, offshore leases in the Gulf of America are a primary funding vehicle for conservation endeavors, meaning increased revenues will boost deferred maintenance of National Parks, state recreation grants, and biodiversity initiatives.
HNR’s proposal would also give domestic mining a chance to counteract China’s rise to dominance. Similar to its approach to fossil fuels, the Biden administration hamstrung domestic mining projects foundational to the solar, batteries, and electric vehicle endeavors subsidized by the IRA. In particular, the markup reinstates leases in Minnesota and Alaska that Biden’s DOI cancelled, unleashing some of the world’s richest deposits of copper, nickel, and zinc. It also reopens millions of acres in Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and Colorado, which Biden’s DOI withdrew from mineral development. Furthermore, the proposal implements avenues for these projects to pursue streamlined environmental review processes, removing the primary weapon green NGOs utilize to hand China control of the energy transition they demand.
HNR’s markup also improves procedures for coal, solar, wind, timber, and geothermal development on federal lands. For example, it redirects half of the renewable energy revenue sharing to state and local governments, which will help ameliorate the surging NIMBY opposition these industries are facing. It also increases access and provides regulatory certainty for geothermal developers, giving this baseload, renewable resource the proper respect it deserves. Finally, it institutes an accelerated, responsible timber harvesting in federal forests with dangerous fuel loads that amplify the intensity of wildfires.
For more details about the legislation, click here for HNR’s section-by-section analysis.