This year, Congress has a rare opportunity; a chance to champion American energy dominance for a generation. Energy abundance has always been one of America’s greatest strategic advantages. From powering economic growth and keeping household energy affordable to strengthening national security, reliable domestic energy production supports nearly every facet of modern life.
Sadly, for four long years, Americans saw that advantage steadily weakened by a slew of radical federal regulations and legislation that ignored the importance of energy affordability, reliability and security. The Biden-Harris administration’s America-last approach to energy policy obstructed energy development with leasing moratoria, permitting roadblocks and destructive regulatory reinterpretations that drove up costs and chilled investments in new exploration and production.
Congressional Republicans have wasted no time fixing this mess and working to increase energy production. Our first reconciliation package removed burdensome red tape, eliminated barriers to exploration and repealed fees that inflated household energy costs. A Congressional Review Act bill that I championed last March overturned a burdensome regulation that applied to businesses that rely on walk-in coolers and freezers. We’ve overturned the worst America-last Biden energy policies and restored certainty to American producers.
Now the path forward is clear, and it’s time to build on that progress.
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has worked with policy specialists, industry experts and reconciliation champions to build a legislative blueprint that is wholly focused on delivering relief for American families and businesses. We didn’t have to reinvent the wheel to do this—nearly 70 percent of the framework is legislation already introduced and awaiting consideration.
One of the Biden-Harris administration’s harmful practices was blocking development in an entire drill spacing unit because the federal government owned a very small portion of that unit. In practice, this allowed Washington to overrule local stakeholders and leave private landowners, states and energy producers in limbo.
The consequences of this practice were far from theoretical—projects were delayed for years or abandoned altogether, even when they had the support of local communities and officials. These delays translated into fewer jobs, lower state and local revenues and higher energy prices for consumers. They also increased America’s reliance on foreign energy sources, often from countries with far weaker environmental standards and far less friendly geopolitical interests.
Put simply, allowing a minority federal interest to override state-approved development is federal overreach.
My legislation, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Mineral Spacing Act, is included in the RSC’s second reconciliation bill’s framework, the Make the American Dream Affordable Again plan. This critical bill would prevent the federal government from blocking energy development on land where it has only a minority share of subsurface mineral ownership and owns no surface land.
The BLM Mineral Spacing Act strikes the right balance. It is not a giveaway to private landowners or the energy industry, but a common-sense clarification of rights and responsibilities aligning control with ownership.
My bill also sets a precedent for rational resource governance. As America looks to unleash development on a wide swath of energy and mineral resources—whether to meet growing demand, support manufacturing or strengthen supply chains—the rules must be clear, fair, predictable and durable. Investors and innovators will not commit capital to projects that can be arbitrarily stalled by an entity with little skin in the game.
As families feel the pinch of higher energy costs, now is the time for conservatives to pass a second reconciliation bill to deliver lasting relief. America’s energy future depends on what we do right now. We cannot afford to waste this opportunity.
Stephanie Bice, a Republican, represents Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
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