H. Res. 987
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
March 21, 2024.
Whereas President Joe Biden and his administration have
proposed and finalized regulations that increase the cost
of energy for domestic consumers, hamper domestic pro-
duction of energy, and increase reliance on foreign adver-
saries 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 for-
eign adversaries for many of the minerals necessary for
renewable energy development;
Whereas the Biden administration has blocked domestic min-
eral 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 an-
nounced guidance that would prohibit liquified natural 2
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gas exports and permitting for export facilities under sec-
tion 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 mil-
lions 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 restric-
tions to 13,000,000 acres of the National Petroleum Re-
serve–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; 3
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Whereas the Biden administration has proposed numerous
antifossil fuel policies that restrict Federal land develop-
ment 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 Na-
tional Forest in northern Minnesota;
Whereas the Biden administration continues to restrict min-
eral 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 nat-
ural gas leasing on Federal lands, violating the Mineral
Leasing Act, which requires the Department of the Inte-
rior 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; 4
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Whereas the Biden administration has leased roughly
232,000 acres bringing in roughly $180,000,000 in Fed-
eral funding, approximately one-tenth of the acreage and
revenue secured by the Trump administration;
Whereas, over the same time period, the Trump administra-
tion 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 Royal-
ties, 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 Instruc-
tional 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 mul-
tiple 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 increas-
ing royalty and bonding rates for oil and gas producers
on Federal lands; and
Whereas the Biden administration proposed numerous sup-
plemental environmental impact statements for resource
management plans across Western States that would lock 5
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up millions of acres of Federal lands from resource devel-
opment: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) denounces the harmful anti-American energy
policies of the Biden administration;
(2) denounces the irrational and unpredictable Fed-
eral lands policies of the Biden administration;
(3) condemns the energy crisis plaguing families,
businesses, and Americans around the country that has
been caused by the Biden administration; and
(4) encourages the domestic production of reliable
and affordable energy generation sources.
Attest:
Clerk.