August 18, 2022
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
The undersigned organizations urge you to strengthen our energy security by removing impediments to greater domestic energy production.
High energy prices remain a major concern for businesses throughout the United States and are a leading cause of inflation. Businesses of all sizes are facing burdens from increased costs for goods, services, and transportation, which combined with tight labor markets, present major headwinds for the U.S. economy.
Climate change is a serious challenge requiring action however, pursuing climate progress and energy security are not mutually exclusive. We must both increase domestic production of oil and natural gas and accelerate the energy transition. The benefits of more U.S. energy production include curbing the flow of cash funding the Russian war machine, bringing relief to U.S. businesses and households, and boosting confidence for investors. Also, Russian oil is among the dirtiest in the world, so displacing it with cleaner, less carbon intensive U.S. production would bring obvious environmental benefits.
We recognize that energy production is a long and complex process. However, encouraging the significant investments necessary requires clear signals that your Administration supports domestic energy production beyond today’s crisis. The mixed signals we’ve seen to date create uncertainty, complicating investments in refining capacity, exploration, and production.
To address these issues, we are calling for:
- Ending the ban on new oil and natural gas exploration on federal lands and waters. Federal lands and waters were responsible for 22 percent of all U.S. oil production and 12 percent of natural gas. Taking these resources off the table has a significant impact on U.S. and global energy supply, today and decades into the future.
- Restoring cancelled lease sales. Cancelling oil and gas lease sales sends the wrong message to producers and investors.
- Adopting a 5-Year Plan for Oil and Gas Development that Allows the U.S. to Maximize Offshore Potential: For the first time in history, the 5-Year Plan was allowed to expire. On July 1, the Department of Interior proposed a new plan that included an option to completely shut down offshore exploration by allowing no new leases, creating even more uncertainty. It is not reasonable to ask that companies make major, long-term investments without knowing whether exploration will even be permitted. We urge the adoption of a new 5-year plan by the end of the year that includes the maximum possible number of lease sales.
Businesses of all sizes across America are committed to both economic growth and environmental progress. To achieve this goal, we need your leadership to reverse course and instead support domestic oil and natural gas production.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Laura Crawford
President & CEO
cc: Board of Directors
The Honorable Deb Haaland, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
The Honorable Amanda Lefton, Director, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
The Honorable Tracy Stone-Manning, Director, U.S. Bureau of Land Management
American Petroleum Institute
