POLICIES FOR THE NEW CONGRESS, ADMINISTRATION AND STATE POLICYMAKERS
America’s prosperity, modern standard of living and personal freedoms are built on economic growth and opportunity for all. Energy – abundant, affordable, and reliable energy from natural gas and oil – is critical for our country today and in the future. As a new Congress and administration begin work in Washington and state policymakers meet across the country, this policy guide details the energy policies that can help our country build on hard-earned progress.
“American energy leadership is based on abundant natural gas and oil reserves – onshore and offshore. Safely developing these reserves is critical to continuing America’s leadership today and in the future. Federal onshore and offshore activity accounted for 22% of total U.S. oil production in 2019. More than 70% of federal oil production comes from offshore. Given its long production timeline, the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) can be a robust source of future supply, yet 94% of federal offshore acreage remains off limits to development. The country should be preparing for the future with a well-crafted, five-year offshore leasing plan instead of unilaterally removing areas from possible exploration and production – as with recent presidential actions to bar development in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Southern Atlantic Ocean. Policies for offshore development should ensure reliable, predictable, and orderly leasing on the OCS. For onshore, 95% of new wells are developed with hydraulic fracturing (fracking), so proposals to ban fracking would essentially stop all new development on federal lands. Producing natural gas and oil on federal lands and waters requires a legal and regulatory structure that fosters investment certainty and operational efficiency – such as the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s 2019 revised well-control rule – while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s offshore air quality rule.”
Read the full report and view the virtual presentation here.