NEW ORLEANS — Governor Jeff Landry visited Chalmette Monday afternoon with a contingent of Republican governors from across the US.
The governors sent a letter to President Biden with steps they would like to see his administration take to deregulate the oil and gas industry.
"If the federal government took its foot off of the neck of American energy, we could absolutely lower the cost of everyday goods to American citizens," Landry said.
The group – which included the governors of Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia, Alaska, New Hampshire, and North Dakota – blamed the Biden Administration's policies and regulations for driving inflation.
“The regulatory burden of building and expanding these refineries has been layered on top of these corporations like cement bricks that are holding them down," Landry said.
Climate Policy Coordinator for Louisiana's Alliance for Affordable Energy, Jackson Voss, said solving inflation isn't that simple.
"I think the answer is we are seeing price increases for energy in your house, your electricity for instance, those are not being caused by increases in the price of energy itself," Voss said, "A lot of these things are being caused by increased infrastructure investment on the part of these utilities that are then being passed on to their customers.”
The nonprofit believes that investing in infrastructure and renewable energy sources would lower the energy costs for consumers.
The governors want to see US oil production ramp up, but Voss said it's already at an all-time high.
“So, I think that the idea that regulations are preventing oil and gas production in the United States is more than a little misleading," Voss said.
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