Stauber’s Bill to Restore Alaskan Energy Production Passes Out of Natural Resources Committee
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced Congressman Pete Stauber’s (MN-08) bipartisan Alaska’s Right to Produce Act, which will reverse the Biden Administration’s decision to block domestic energy development on Alaska’s North Slope.
Specifically, this bill will reverse the Biden Department of the Interior (DOI)’s decision to ban oil and gas development on 13 million acres within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). Additionally, this legislation will reinstate the lawfully awarded leases the Biden DOI cancelled in the non-wilderness Coastal Plain of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Of this bill’s passage out of committee, Stauber said, “As Chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, I’m working to stop the Biden Administration’s ‘anywhere but America, and worker but American’ energy policies. The Biden Administration’s decision to take these resources offline without consulting the Alaska Native communities most impacted by this decision will have terrible repercussions for the state of Alaska and the entire United States, including job loss and higher energy costs. By reversing Biden’s harmful actions on Alaska’s North Slope, my bill will lower energy costs for Americans, create economic opportunities for Native communities, and reduce our dangerous reliance on foreign nations for our energy needs. I’m proud to see this legislation advance through committee with bipartisan support, and I will continue to push until it becomes law.”
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman stated, “President Biden's decision to cancel the remaining leases in the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was a slap in the face to the hard-working Alaskans whose livelihoods depend on state energy production. This decision ignored local voices and will be devastating for North Slope communities as well as the larger Alaskan economy as energy revenues support essential services from infrastructure to hospitals and schools. H.R. 6285 will reverse this disastrous decision and help those President Biden's agenda has left behind. Representative Stauber has been a leading voice in Congress to counter the administration's war on energy, and I am ready to continue to work with him to pass this bill into law.”
This legislation is supported by Alaska’s entire Congressional delegation.
This legislation is not the first that Stauber has introduced to reverse a harmful decision made by the Biden Administration’s DOI. In the 118th Congress, Stauber has championed legislation to reverse the DOI’s decision to withdraw 225,500 acres from mining activity within the Superior National Forest. Learn more HERE.
Congressman Stauber is currently serving his first term as Chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee.
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