Today, Republican members in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate introduced the Protecting our Wealth of Energy Resources (POWER) Act of 2021 as a response to President Joe Biden’s ban on new energy leases in federal lands and waters.

“With the stroke of a pen, President Biden locked up millions of acres of federal lands and waters for oil and gas development. This means thousands of Americans will lose their jobs, OPEC could dominate our energy supply, and we’ll have no control over our imported energy’s environmental regulations. It’s unacceptable. I’m proud to introduce the POWER Act with my colleagues in both chambers of Congress, and I hope it serves as a wakeup call to the dangerous ripple effects of President Biden’s executive order. Securing American energy dominance while simultaneously conserving our environment should not be a partisan issue.” – House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) 

“President Biden’s so-called climate executive orders are catastrophic for American workers and families. They threaten thousands of good-paying jobs, could increase energy prices for families, and would take away an important source of revenue for local schools, conservation programs, and infrastructure projects. Their impact on global climate change is negligible, but their consequences for workers, families, and American energy independence are decisively negative. At a time when households are already struggling, our immediate priorities are to defeat the virus, rebuild the economy, and reopen schools. But by squandering American energy independence to pander to a small group of radical activists, these executive orders not only ignore those priorities, they make them harder to achieve.” – House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)

“President Biden’s latest executive orders are an assault against American workers. His actions will destroy thousands of American jobs and shift energy production overseas to states like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran. Public schools, first responders, and local governments that rely upon oil and gas development on federal land for critical tax revenues will be permanently gutted. The POWER Act prevents President Biden from enacting his radical no-drilling agenda and ensures that clean, safe energy development on federal lands can continue to work to the benefit of our communities. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this important legislation.” – House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.)

“The Biden Ban would be nothing short of catastrophic for western states that are already reeling from the decline in energy usage brought on by the pandemic and continued volatility in energy markets. It’s a one-two punch that means disaster for energy jobs, families and communities. Through the POWER Act, Congress would reiterate that federal lands should serve not the whims of a radical progressive minority, but the needs of all Americans.” – U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)

“More than half the oil and more than two-thirds of the natural gas produced in New Mexico is on federal lands. A moratorium on new leases will devastate our state’s economy, destroying more than 60,000 jobs by 2022, and decimate our state’s budget. This will have the greatest impact on the children of New Mexico, where our public education system received more than $1 billion in funding from the oil and gas industry last year alone. I’m proud to lead the POWER Act to protect our state’s jobs and our children’s future.” – U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.)

Background

The POWER Act would prohibit the president or his secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture and Energy Departments from blocking energy or mineral leasing and permitting, or from issuing mineral withdrawals on federal lands and waters without congressional approval.

Original House cosponsors: U.S. Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Steve Scalise (R-La.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Blake Moore (R-Utah), Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), Don Young (R-Alaska), Burgess Owens (R-Utah), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Kevin Brady (R-Texas), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Chris Stewart (R-Utah), Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), John Curtis (R-Utah), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Guy Reschenthaler (R-Penn.), Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), Jim Baird (R-Ind.), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) and Mark Amodei (R-Nev.).

Original Senate cosponsors: U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

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