Good morning!

Reminder to please sign on to THIS LETTER opposing H.Res. 987. Time and again, House Republicans have proposed legislation to undo every effort by the Biden-Harris administration to address the climate crisis, prioritize the needs and voices of frontline communities, protect our cultural and natural resources, and build a more just clean energy future. H.Res. 987 is another one of those attempts to roll back the progress we’ve made. Here are the details of H.Res. 987 and all the reasons we’re asking you to join THIS LETTER opposing H.Res. 987 by NOON TODAY 2/5.

Thank you to the 30 groups who have already signed!

America

AMERICA FITZPATRICK [she/her]

Conservation Program Director

League of Conservation Voters

Direct: 301-219-2323 

Email: afitzpatrick@lcv.org

RESOLUTION

Denouncing the harmful, anti-American energy policies of the Biden administration, and for other purposes.

• Whereas President Joe Biden and his administration have proposed and finalized regulations that increase the cost of energy for domestic consumers, hamper domestic production of energy, and increase reliance on foreign adversaries for energy needs;
• Whereas then-candidate Joe Biden is quoted as saying, ‘‘I will end fossil fuels.’’;
• Whereas decreasing domestic production of fossil fuels does not prevent the fuels from being produced globally, but instead increases the United States reliance on other countries for its energy needs;
• Whereas the United States is reliant on China and other foreign adversaries for many of the minerals necessary for renewable energy development;
• Whereas the Biden administration has blocked domestic mineral development despite the massive increase in demand for these minerals;
• Whereas the United States became the global leader in liquified natural gas exports for the first time in 2023;
• Whereas, on January 26, 2024, the Biden administration announced guidance that would prohibit liquified natural gas exports and permitting for export facilities under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717b);
• Whereas, under President Biden, gasoline prices reached a record-breaking high in 2022, with prices soaring to a nationwide average of over $4 a gallon and nearly $5 for diesel;
• Whereas gas prices have increased due to President Biden’s policies, affecting families and small businesses who struggle to make ends meet; Whereas, in May 2023, it was calculated that nearly 20,000,000 households in the United States were behind on their utility bills because of rising energy prices;
• Whereas energy prices increased roughly 37.2 percent in President Biden’s first 26 months in office, which is the largest increase of any of the last 7 Presidents;
• Whereas President Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office, preventing over 11,000 jobs, hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day, and millions in revenue;
• Whereas the Biden administration illegally canceled leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, even though the leases were mandated under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act;
• Whereas the Biden administration added extraction restrictions to 13,000,000 acres of the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska;
• Whereas the Biden administration canceled 3 proposed lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico;
• Whereas President Trump held 9 offshore lease sales and President Obama held 20;
• Whereas the Biden administration has proposed numerous antifossil fuel policies that restrict Federal land development causing companies to cease investment in research, development, and exploration;
• Whereas the Biden administration implemented a 20-year mining moratorium on 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota;
• Whereas the Biden administration continues to restrict mineral extraction in areas including Chaco Canyon, Black Hills National Forest, and the Thompson Divide;
• Whereas, in 2022, more than one-third of Americans say they reduced or skipped basic expenses, such as medicine or food, to pay an energy bill;
• Whereas President Biden issued Executive Order 14008 on his first day in office, which halted all new oil and natural gas leasing on Federal lands, violating the Mineral Leasing Act, which requires the Department of the Interior to hold quarterly lease sales;
• Whereas the Biden administration did not hold an onshore lease sale until June 2022, and the first sale excluded nearly 80 percent of eligible lands while instituting a 50- percent royalty increase;
• Whereas, in fiscal year 2022, the first full fiscal year of the Biden administration, the Bureau of Land Management approved an average of 233 drilling permits per month;
• Whereas, in contrast, the Bureau of Land Management was approving nearly 400 drilling permits monthly in fiscal year 2020;
• Whereas the Biden administration has held only 18 lease sales over 36 months in office;
• Whereas the Biden administration has leased roughly 232,000 acres bringing in roughly $180,000,000 in Federal funding, approximately one-tenth of the acreage and revenue secured by the Trump administration;
• Whereas, over the same time period, the Trump administration had held 82 lease sales, leasing 3,700,000 acres and bringing in over $1,700,000,000 for taxpayers.
• Whereas the Bureau of Land Management proposed a rule titled ‘‘Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation’’ (87 Fed. Reg. 73588) which aims to further regulate natural gas emissions from oil and natural gas production on Federal lands;
• Whereas the Bureau of Land Management issued Instructional Memoranda that restrict the rights of existing leaseholders, ignore statutory mandates, and will limit acreage in future sales;
• Whereas the Biden administration proposed the rule titled ‘‘Conservation and Landscape Health’’ (88 Fed. Reg. 19583) that would illegally elevate conservation as a multiple use under the Federal Land Management Policy Act of 1976;
• Whereas the Biden administration has proposed a rule titled ‘‘Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process’’ (88. Fed. Reg. 47562) that would establish preference criteria to limit oil and gas leasing on Federal lands, while increasing royalty and bonding rates for oil and gas producers on Federal lands; and
• Whereas the Biden administration proposed numerous supplemental environmental impact statements for resource management plans across Western States that would lock up millions of acres of Federal lands from resource development.

From: America Fitzpatrick <afitzpatrick@lcv.org>
Date: Friday, February 2, 2024 at 8:58 AM
To: Ad Hoc Group <ad-hoc-group-envi@googlegroups.com>
Subject: For Sign-on: Letter Opposing H.Res. 987, Denouncing the harmful, anti-American energy policies of the Biden administration

Good morning!

Please sign on to THIS LETTER opposing H.Res. 987. Time and again, House Republicans have proposed legislation to undo every effort by the Biden-Harris administration to address the climate crisis, prioritize the needs and voices of frontline communities, protect our cultural and natural resources, and build a more just clean energy future. H.Res. 987 is another one of those attempts to roll back the progress we’ve made. We expect this could be on the House floor the week of 2/12.

Please sign on by NOON MONDAY 2/5 by filling out THIS FORM. Letter text below.

Thank you!

America

AMERICA FITZPATRICK [she/her]

Conservation Program Director

League of Conservation Voters

Direct: 301-219-2323 

Email: afitzpatrick@lcv.org

The Honorable Mike Johnson Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC

The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC

Dear Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and Members of Congress:

On behalf of our millions of members and supporters of our organizations, we write to express our strong opposition to H. Res. 987 and urge you to VOTE NO ON H. RES. 987. 

Instead of finding real solutions to real crises – such as providing aid to our allies abroad and providing long-term funding to yet again avert a government shutdown – House Republicans have instead chosen to once again waste precious floor time on political stunts on behalf of Big Polluters. This resolution puts polluters over people. In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration has taken bold, concrete, and popular action to reduce pollution, create good-paying clean energy jobs, address longstanding environmental injustices, and protect everyday Americans from paying the price for corporate greed. Thanks to this administration’s leadership, the United States has taken meaningful steps towards meeting our climate goals – goals we must meet in order to ensure a livable future for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.

Time and again, House Republicans have proposed legislation to undo every effort by the Biden-Harris administration to address the climate crisis, prioritize the needs and voices of frontline communities, protect our cultural and natural resources, and build a more just clean energy future. And while it is no longer a surprise, we are deeply disappointed and alarmed that House Republicans are doubling down on their attempts to line the pockets of fossil fuel companies at the expense of American households, small businesses, and manufacturers.

Please protect communities, our natural resources, and our climate by voting no on H. Res. 987. 

Sincerely,

GROUPS