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Responding to the White House Blame Game on Leases

3/4/2022

On March 3rd, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, in response to a question about increasing domestic oil production, attempted to shift blame to oil companies by citing “9,000 approved oil leases that the oil companies are not tapping into currently.” In subsequent press conferences, she adjusted that to 9,000 permits and went on a Twitter storm to shift blame.

While we may not appreciate the cynical attempt to deny the effects of the president’s own “no federal oil” policies, we appreciate the White House is suddenly messaging to “encourage” us to produce. When my tweet was picked up by a Fox News White House correspondent, it garnered more attention than usual, leading environmental groups to jump in and pound on the 9,000 approved APDs outstanding.

Working like the devil to lower energy prices

2/23/2022

As published in The Hill on February 21, 2022
By Kathleen Sgamma and Dan Naatz

Last week, President Biden said he would “work like the devil” to bring down gasoline prices. Somehow, after more than half a year of watching him beg Russia and OPEC to increase their oil production while making it more difficult for American oil and natural gas producers, we’re skeptical. But here are a few simple ideas to help the president channel his inner Lucifer and reduce energy prices.

Interior Won’t Admit a “Game Changing” Conservation Program Relies on Oil and Natural Gas Royalties

2/10/2022

During a Senate hearing this week officials from the Biden Administration extolled the conservation benefits from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). However, they failed to acknowledge the program is funded almost entirely by revenues generated from oil and natural gas production on public lands. If they did, they’d risk running afoul of Interior Sec. Deb Haaland, who’s keeping the financial benefits of federal oil and natural gas leasing on the down low while working to eliminate the program.

Testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Shannon Estenoz, the assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, celebrated the achievements possible under GAOA. She said the law combines “an historic financial commitment to conservation and recreation.” Speaking specifically about national parks funding, she called GAOA’s new Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) “a game changing investment program that is helping us to make meaningful progress on protecting high-priority assets”

Western Energy Alliance’s Top Three Differentiators

1/26/2022

Oil and natural gas companies and associated businesses participate in many trade associations. Here’s what makes Western Energy Alliance unique:

Voice of the industry in the West
Robust Legal Defense Fund and strategy
“Guerrilla communications” that move the needle on our policy issues.

The oil and natural gas industry has a ton of trade associations. There’s at least one, often multiple, trade associations for each producing state; trade associations for each sector; those representing large companies and those representing independents; and trades associations that focus on national issues down to local issues. That makes sense, since we’re a highly complex industry and there are many levels of government and agencies with their fingers in the pie. No one trade association can handle it all, even the biggest.

The Single Biggest Thing Pres. Biden Could Do to Lower Gas Prices

1/20/2022

Earlier this week, Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma testified at a joint virtual forum hosted by the Congressional Western Caucus and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Republican members. Lawmakers held the event on the anniversary of Pres. Biden’s first year in the White House to explore how his policies have contributed to increased energy prices.

The discussion focused on the consequences of the Biden Ban on federal leasing, the overreaching threats from the Build Back Better Act, and overregulation from the Department of the Interior and other agencies that will further dampen American production. Participants also explored how to reverse the administration’s policies, the climate benefits of producing oil and natural gas in the United States, and Interior slow walking the permitting process.

Activist Judge Bush Whacked by the Ninth Circuit Court

1/19/2022

Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle held that Chesapeake Energy was wrongly denied intervention in litigation challenging numerous Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oil and natural gas lease sales in the District Court of Idaho. Environmental groups have repeatedly challenged sales conducted since 2015, primarily in five lawsuits in the district courts of Idaho, Montana, and Washington, DC. The latest ruling represents a backfire in the plaintiffs’ plans to choose those jurisdictions and sidestep Wyoming, Colorado or Utah (the states where the vast majority of the leases were issued) as they forum shopped for activist judges who would put a finger on the scale and rule in their favor.

Is Speaker Pelosi Sneaking Pork into the Budget Reconciliation Package?

8/31/2021

Congressional budget reconciliation documents released by the House Natural Resources Committee reveal lawmakers plan to direct $200 million to a park in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco congressional district. The special project is among many that would be funded by increased revenues and fees targeting oil and natural produced on public lands.

According to a confidential document obtained by E&E News and legislative language released Monday listing the priorities of Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), the Presidio Trust is slated to receive $200 million as part of the $3.5 trillion budget package. Each committee in Congress is given jurisdiction over a specific dollar amount within the ongoing reconciliation process. The documents show how the Natural Resources Committee plans to spend its $25.6 - $31 billion allocation

The Presidio is a former military base converted into a 1,500-acre beach-front park located next to the Golden Gate Bridge. The well-adorned park features several private residences, office spaces, hotels, a golf course, and event venues located in the heart of Speaker Pelosi’s 12th Congressional District.

Here are a few key questions that need to be answered about how the Presidio’s funding was inserted into the Natural Resources list of priorities and how it will be used:

Inefficiencies Abound --> Stop the Federal Government!

8/17/2021

It’s official. The Biden Administration will conduct no lease sales this quarter or in the 2021 fiscal year that ends September 30th. August 15th marked the 45-day deadline to announce a lease sale before the end of the quarter as required by the Mineral Leasing Act. It also marked 60 days since Judge Terry Doughty in the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction overturning the leasing ban.

As anticipated, the Interior Department announced the appeal to the Fifth Circuit on the last possible day. The justification of course started with climate change, which we all know is practically irrelevant as federal production would simply be displaced to nonfederal lands or overseas. Hence President Biden’s plea to Russia and OPEC just the week before to increase production.

Envoys to the Oil Patch, Not OPEC

8/12/2021

Monday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a major chapter in its sixth assessment report (AR6), the first significant update since 2014. IPCC is the “gold standard” of climate science, based on thousands of published studies.

But science is not a golden oracle that dictates what policies follow. It’s up to policymakers to take the science and translate it into realistic, actionable policy. The IPCC doesn’t provide solutions on how to reduce carbon emissions while still meeting the needs of humanity for food, shelter, mobility, home heating and cooling, medicines, water, and other life-sustaining products and services.

There is rarely a clearer illustration of this reality than the actions from the White House just two days after the IPCC report was released. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan issued a statement about the effects of high gasoline prices on the global economy. This follows efforts over the summer to encourage OPEC and Russia to increase production. The White House also directed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate oil companies for potential market manipulation.

When is Not Leasing Not a Ban: The leasing ban “is still in place” according to Sec. Haaland

8/11/2021

In a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on July 27th, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland faced basic questions on when the Department of the Interior (DOI) will:

Comply with an order from a Louisiana federal judge who ordered a halt to President Biden’s ban on new oil and natural gas lease sales, and
Release a report on how DOI will conduct a comprehensive review of the entire federal oil and natural gas program, as ordered six months prior by the president.

The secretary’s responses were not as forthcoming nor as informative as lawmakers would have liked. The exchange between Sec. Haaland and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) is illustrative of the confusion.

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