04.19.24

Hoeven: President Biden’s Anti-Energy Agenda Hurts U.S. Security, Helps Fund Adversaries Like Iran

Senator Working to Take Handcuffs Off U.S. Energy Production

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, this week joined his Senate Republican colleagues in pushing back on Biden administration policies that are handcuffing U.S. oil production. The senator stressed that by restricting production of taxpayer-owned minerals and increasing the cost of domestic energy production, President Biden is undermining the economic and national security of the U.S. and its allies. This leads to greater reliance on energy from adversaries like Iran, Venezuela and Russia, which have lower environmental standards than the U.S. Moreover, the Biden administration has failed to enforce sanctions on Iran, including Iranian oil exports, which has enabled the regime in Tehran to continue funding terrorist groups, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.

Accordingly, Hoeven is working to provide regulatory relief for U.S. energy production and unlock the potential of America’s abundant energy resources, including its vast oil, gas and coal reserves. At the same time, the senator is pressing the Biden administration to reinstate a policy of maximum pressure on Iran and enforce sanctions without waivers.

“This is about the cost to U.S. consumers and the rising inflation that results when we can’t produce energy here at home, the small businesses hurt by the Biden administration’s policies and, ultimately, our national security,” said Hoeven. “When Iran attacks Israel, where do they get the funding for those drones and missiles? It comes from energy and selling oil. The Biden administration policies don’t even benefit the environment, because when Russia, Iran or Venezuela produce this energy, it is done with the worst environmental standards, whereas the U.S. has the best. There is no common sense to these policies in any way, shape or form. They hurt every single American, every single day, and our allies as well.”

Among other efforts, Hoeven is working to:

  • Roll back harmful Biden administration policies that restrict federal energy leasing and increase the cost of producing energy on federal lands. The senator:
    • Is sponsoring a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval with Senate ENR Committee Ranking Member John Barrasso to reverse the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Lands Rule, which was finalized this week and will lock away more than 245 million acres of taxpayer-owned land in “conservation leases.”
    • Is helping introduce legislation to overturn the Biden administration’s fee increases and leasing restrictions for energy development on federal land.
  • Provide regulatory relief for energy development and streamline the federal permitting process. To this end, Hoeven is sponsoring the following bills, which have been included in comprehensive permitting reform legislation sponsored by Barrasso in the Senate and similar legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives:
    • The BLM Mineral Spacing Act, which would remove duplicative BLM permitting regulations and better respect the rights of private mineral holders.
    • The North American Energy Act, a bill to prevent unnecessary delays for important cross-border energy projects, such as pipelines and transmission lines.
    • Legislation to streamline and set deadlines for multi-agency National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews of natural gas pipelines and liquid natural gas (LNG) projects needed to get energy to market.

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