Restricting Energy in Gulf of Mexico Hurts Americans Now and In Future, CEA President Testifies In Congress
Current and proposed restrictions on Gulf of Mexico and Outer Continental Shelf energy development are emblematic of failing energy policies that are driving higher prices that hurt consumers, increasing blackout risks and delivering negligible environmental progress, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) President David Holt testified before Congress.
Holt’s testimony came at the invitation of the House Natural Resource Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources at a hearing entitled “Examining the Biden Administration’s Limits on Access to the OCS: Impacts on Consumers, States, and Operators.”
“Restrictive energy policies like those imposed and proposed for Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas production are not advancing our environmental goals in a meaningful way. They are, however, hurting our economy, the wallets of families all across the nation, as well as increasing the probability of greater blackouts,” Holt said in written testimony submitted in conjunction with his appearance before the Committee.
“This Administration seemed to cheer after issuing the fewest number of oil and gas lease sales ever,” Holt said, referring to the Administration’s impeding of legally required lease sales and a two-year delay in issuing a Five-Year Plan for leasing. “This year, 2024, will be the first year in which an offshore oil and gas lease sale has not taken place since 1965.”
Since energy impacts everyone regardless of political party, Holt urged Congress to take bipartisan legislative action to ensure immediate and long-term commercially viable lease sales in the Gulf to help guarantee affordable and reliable energy for future generations.
“The question is how do we increase the availability of affordable, reliable energy while improving our environment? The answer is simple. America must keep leading the way, in the Gulf and elsewhere,” he said, referring to nation’s two decades of the world’s largest emission reductions and other major environmental successes.
Holt’s testimony highlighted other real-world examples of how policies limiting energy options are leading to higher energy bills, lower electric grid reliability and contributing to still-strong inflation that affects everything from food to everyday goods Americans need. Those examples stretch coast-to-coast, from New England and New York to California and Washington State.
“All this shows that restricting energy is starting to carry a high potential for political blowback, related directly to the actual cost increases these kinds of policies impose on voters, families and businesses,” Holt said. “We’re all still feeling the effects of inflation, and not a single voter is fooled when inflation reports exclude the energy and food prices they pay every day.”
“CEA thanks the House Natural Resources Committee and Subcommittee Chairman Stauber for their leadership in steering the national dialogue back toward the reality that economic, national and energy security are inextricably linked,” Holt said. “The well-being of American families, farmers and small businesses relies on all three, which will benefit from a more balanced approach toward our energy and environment goals.”
Holt’s written testimony is available here.
Consumer Energy Alliance | https://consumerenergyalliance.org/