Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) is accusing the Biden administration of politicizing new public lands protections, accusing it of prioritizing oil and gas production in Democratic-led New Mexico while curtailing oil and gas production in Wyoming, Alaska, and other conservative states.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Lummis, the chairwoman of the Senate Western Caucus, noted that New Mexico is now outproducing her state of Wyoming in the areas of both natural gas (8.4 billion cubic feet per day versus 3.3 billion) and oil (1.76 million barrels per day versus 265,000).
WRITER’S GUILD OF AMERICA REACHES ‘TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH STUDIOS TO END STRIKE
Since the two states are both home to massive proven oil and gas reserves, Lummis asserted that politics is likely a primary driver behind the disparity, which she says benefits Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s home state of New Mexico, where Democrats control the governor’s office and the legislature, while harming Republican-led states such as Alaska and Wyoming.
“We’re really frustrated with the Biden administration’s crackdown in Wyoming and Alaska on oil and gas production — and letting it flow freely in New Mexico, which is where Deb Haaland is from,” Lummis said.
Lummis also took aim at Interior’s new ban on oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s North Slope and cancellation of seven oil and gas leases issued in Alaska, announced earlier this month as part of the Biden administration’s push to expand federal land protections.
The Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs Field Office Draft Resource Management Plan announced in August would designate 1.8 million acres of land in Wyoming as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, making the areas off-limits for oil and gas development.
Combined, the moves are “a massive punch to the gut” for Wyoming and Alaska, Lummis told the Washington Examiner.
“And it just shows how much contempt they really have for conservative states and how disingenuous they are by turning back on the oil and gas development that’s going on in New Mexico — and continues to grow — while trying to impair Alaska and Wyoming in their ability to produce oil and gas,” she said.
It’s not the first time that President Joe Biden’s actions have incurred the wrath of Republicans in red states over its efforts to curb climate change and reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels. At the same time, the administration has faced criticism from environmental groups for the steps it has taken to encourage domestic production, especially to improve energy security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Environmental groups were outraged after the Biden administration approved the Willow Project, or ConocoPhillips’s massive, 600-million-barrel drilling project in Alaska, in March.
Groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, and the Sierra Club all castigated the administration’s decision and vowed to stop the Willow Project from moving forward.
But Republican-led states, especially in the West, have been equally irate.
Lummis also took issue with the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed Public Lands Rule, which would allow the agency to lease federal lands for conservation purposes.
This would change an existing law created by Congress in 1976 to govern federal land use, and would give groups opposed to new fossil fuel development the same right to bid on federal leases as oil companies, miners, and cattle ranchers — potentially stifling resource production.
Biden’s actions have been “one step forward, two steps back,” Lummis said. “He’s trying to placate global warming activists with his rhetoric. And then he has to follow through at some point because if he doesn’t, they know he’s insincere on that.”
While BLM contends the proposed rule would allow it to better uphold its duty to manage federal lands and deliver on its duty to prevent “unnecessary or undue degradation,” a group of state attorneys general led by Montana alleged in letters to BLM this summer that it is a “flagrant violation” of federal law and threatens “substantial harm” to their respective economies. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told the Washington Examiner this summer that he plans to challenge it in court.
Notably, Wyoming also has more federal land than New Mexico (52% compared to New Mexico’s 33%) and just 22% private land, compared to New Mexico at 50% — leaving it and other Western Caucus states like Alaska uniquely vulnerable to the administration’s actions.
The administration “is in a position to use their executive branch whip to curtail availability of oil and gas leases in Alaska, Wyoming, and hide behind the fact that we have more federal land,” Lummis said. “So they can argue that New Mexico’s development is primarily on state and private land.”
The Biden administration did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced legislation earlier this month that would require federal agencies to show how their new regulations and proposed energy projects would affect costs for communities at risk of energy poverty, including in Alaska and other Western states.
Lummis did not say at the time whether she planned to support the bill, though she described it as a “worthy goal.”
Original Location: Lummis accuses Biden of favoring blue New Mexico over red states in energy policies
Washington Examiner Videos
