26 Republican senators have signed a letter requesting a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden “as soon as possible” to discuss recent actions the new administration has taken related to the energy sector.
“As senators who represent millions of Americans who work in our nation’s resource development sectors, we are requesting a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss recent actions that your administration has taken targeting those industries,” the letter stated.
“As senators from states where the energy and resource development sectors have provided good-paying jobs for generations, including the building trades unions, we have been surprised by your immediate actions upon taking office that have targeted hundreds of thousands of these jobs in our states and which run counter to your stated goal of creating good-paying jobs and helping struggling American families,” the letter added.
“Your actions will have grave consequences for our constituents, and taking these actions on your very first week as president, with no input from those of us who represent these hard working Americans is counter to the desires of the American people who want practical, bipartisan solutions to our nation’s challenges, and who want policies that support working families,” the letter continued.
Led by Republican Bill Cassidy, the senator for Louisiana, the letter was also signed by the following Republican senators; John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, Shelley Moore Capito, John Cornyn, Tom Cotton, Kevin Cramer, Ted Cruz, Steve Daines, Chuck Grassley, Bill Hagerty, John Hoeven, Jim Inhofe, Ron Johnson, John Kennedy, James Lankford, Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Jim Risch, Dan Sullivan, Pat Toomey, Tommy Tuberville, and Roger Wicker.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Rigzone message asking if Biden had accepted to meet the senators. Since his inauguration on January 20, Biden has revoked the presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, paused new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and offshore waters, and rejoined the Paris climate agreement.
On January 28, 25 Republican senators - comprising Lummis, Barrasso, Blackburn, Capito, Cassidy, Cotton, Cornyn, Cramer, Cruz, Daines, Hoeven, Inhofe, Johnson, Kennedy, Marshall, Risch, Sullivan, Toomey, Tuberville, Wicker, John Boozman, Mike Crapo, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mike Lee and Mitt Romney - introduced the Protecting our Wealth of Energy Resources (POWER) Act of 2021, which would prohibit the president or his secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and Energy departments from blocking energy or mineral leasing and permitting on federal lands and waters without congressional approval.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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