In yet another blatant display of putting polluters over people, House Republicans have shown their hand with House Resolution 987. The content of this resolution is not only wildly inaccurate, misleading, and misguided—it does not even attempt to find real solutions to the crises facing us today. Instead of getting to work with their most basic job of keeping the government running, House Republicans have instead chosen to cast the remarkable economic transition that is spurring an economic renaissance across the country and increasing our energy security and independence as somehow bad for America. Let’s be real: the vision they’ve put forth in this resolution amounts to air choked with pollution, water unfit to drink, and climate change raging out of control.
We’ve gone through their election-year propaganda line-by-line to pull out the most egregious examples of misleading or patently false statements to set the record straight:
Gas Prices and Domestic Energy Production
- Domestic energy production under the Biden administration has hit all-time highs across the board. At the end of 2023, the U.S. continued its five-year run as the world’s largest oil producer and became the largest oil producer in history. The same is true for natural gas. On federal lands–which Republicans spend a great deal of time griping about–oil production under President Biden has also achieved records. And offshore–despite more gripes–production has remained steadily near historic highs.
- Fossil fuel production is an increasingly unimportant part of the story though. Renewable energy production is growing exponentially and so are the jobs it supports. Wind energy now provides more than 10% of total U.S. energy production, powering 46 million homes. Meanwhile, solar installers achieved record levels of new production in 2023 as combined renewable energy generation surpassed coal in the U.S. energy mix.
- Following the global energy shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prices at the pump have fallen significantly and are back to a level last seen in June 2021, without adjusting for inflation. All while Big Oil has raked in record-breaking profits. The very policies that industry and Republicans are pushing–to expand LNG exports–are very likely responsible for many of the increases Americans are seeing on their heating bills.
- And the idea that our allies are falling head over heels for even more of our LNG is similarly bogus. We’ve done our part to help Europe overcome the energy shock created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They aren’t asking for more LNG and many leaders support the administration’s pause on export permit approvals.
Mining
- The clean energy transition requires a lot of raw materials–a reality embraced by President Biden’s signature legislative achievement: the Inflation Reduction Act. Contrary to Republican claims, the administration has been working overtime to secure America’s mineral supply chain with allies, work through mine permitting challenges, and investing heavily in the domestic mineral processing and manufacturing that will allow this country to be a leader in clean energy technology development.
- Where President Biden has stopped mining, the reasons are clear: under no scenario could mining be conducted safely while conserving precious, globally significant ecosystems and protecting communities. As we saw from the extensive review of U.S. mining policy undertaken by this administration, the question mining proponents and companies should ask is: how do we site the right mines in the right places and avoid impacts to critical resources and fenceline communities?
Permitting & Leasing
- Under the Biden administration, there has not been an end to permitting and leasing as House Republicans would lead us to believe. Instead, following the Congressional mandate in the Inflation Reduction Act to hold lease sales, the administration has complied. What they have changed is the amount of due diligence taken to avoid the unnecessary and wasteful speculation so common in the previous administration. This has resulted in lease sales made up of lands that actually have a chance of being developed with fewer resource and social conflicts. We may not be big fans of continued leasing, but this is leasing done better.
- Onshore: Republican narratives about Biden blocking drilling also fall apart upon a simple Google search. According to the latest data, since taking office, the Biden administration has approved 50% more drilling permits than the Trump administration. That’s not great news for the climate, but it’s 180 degrees from the lies on which House Republicans are trying to build energy policy.
- Offshore: As with onshore leasing, it is yet another lie to imply that Biden has canceled all offshore oil and gas lease sales. Congress mandated lease sales in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico all of which the Biden administration held. With only three scheduled lease sales in the newly released five-year plan, it is not a victory for oil and gas, but it’s not a victory for Gulf communities or our planet either.
- New regulations are protecting taxpayers from the century of harm oil and gas drillers have wrecked on our shared public lands by forcing industry to clean up its mess when it’s done drilling. Congressional–not Biden administration–mandates raised royalties and rents and other fees for drillers on federal lands, but only to levels that harmonize them with what states charge. When industry complains, it’s really just lamenting the loss of a free lunch paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
- According to expert modeling, even if the Biden Administration issued no new offshore leases, there would be minimal effects on U.S. oil production and prices in the five- to ten-year time frame. This is because any new leases issued during the new 5YP would not begin producing oil and gas for approximately five to ten years—or longer, in deep waters— a fact House Republicans like to ignore. This means that any new leasing won’t result in more oil and gas for a long time—it will, however, lock us into future carbon emissions, undermining our ability to address the climate crisis as it steadily worsens.
This short-sighted and inherently flawed resolution is just the latest in a long string of deeply troubling legislation from House Republicans in their quest to undo the incredible progress the Biden-Harris administration has been making on climate. It is thanks to this administration that we have taken meaningful steps to address the climate crisis and ensure we have a livable future. With a resolution like this, it could not be clearer that House Republicans are putting polluters over the good of the American people and our planet.
Valerie Cleland and Josh Axelrod are senior advisors to the NRDC Action Fund.