NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana's senators signed on to a bill to block President Joe Biden's executive order freezing new energy leases on public land and waters including the Gulf of Mexico.
Sen. Bill Cassidy and Sen. John Kennedy joined 23 other senators in introducing the Protecting our Wealth of Energy Resources (POWER) Act of 2021.
The POWER Act prohibits 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.
“Federal lands and water don’t belong to President Biden; they belong to the people of the United States," Cassidy said. "We should use these resources to power our country and keep Americans employed. This bill installs needed safeguards to ensure that no president can unilaterally pull the plug on American energy production and put thousands out of work the way this president is trying to do."
The oil and gas industry is a $73 billion a year business in Louisiana. It supports the jobs of more than 250,000 people.
President Biden signed a series of executive orders this week to “super-charge” the country’s response to what he called the “existential threat” of climate change.
“Our plans are ambitions, but we are America,” Biden said. “We’re bold. We’re unwavering in the pursuit of jobs and innovations, science, and discovery. We can do this. We must do this, and we will do this.”
President Biden’s orders also promote the growth of solar and wind energy.
He promises to create new jobs in renewable fuels, in communities now in danger of losing positions as a result of his environmental policies.
To read the bill, click here.
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