Energy expert warns Biden’s offshore oil, gas drilling ban will harm consumers, calls on Congress to fix it
Biden’s last-minute executive action on offshore oil and gas drilling may have landed him in hot water as one energy expert is warning of the potential harm to American consumers.
Mike Sommers, American Petroleum Institute president and CEO, called on Congress to fix Biden’s costly action after he announced a ban on new drilling and further oil and natural gas development on more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters.
"Unfortunately, these kinds of midnight regulations that are being put in place by the Biden administration are going to undermine American energy security and hurt American consumers. That’s not what America voted for," Sommers stressed.
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Biden’s executive action comes two weeks before his term expires.
"My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs," the president said in a statement. "It is not worth the risks. As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country, and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren."
The president also invoked the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, meaning President-elect Trump could be limited in his ability to revoke the action.
Sommers revealed that Congress has a "number of different options that they could pursue" to overturn Biden’s effort, arguing the new motorium is going to "harm consumers."
"The Congressional Review Act is certainly one of them. But they could also pursue this through the reconciliation procedures because of the royalties that would be gained in the offshore from developing these resources, because their federal resources would be tremendous," Sommers explained.
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He told host Maria Bartiromo that Congress needs to act quickly and make sure it’s a "top priority" during their first few days on Capitol Hill.
"The American people certainly didn’t vote for less energy development in the United States. In fact, energy was on the ballot during this election and energy won," Sommers said.
Biden’s oil and gas drilling ban comes after his decision to ban certain natural gas water heaters from the market, a move Sommers says will "hurt the most vulnerable among us."
"That's what's so sad about this, that it is people who can least afford it. They're going to have to pay the most for these new water heaters that they're going to have to install and retrofit into their places where they live," he expressed.
Sommers argued that not only is the new natural gas water heater ban a regressive tax on America, but Americans as well.
"This is a sad day, I think, because it's the poor that are going to be affected most by this ban," he said.
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Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report