In the News

EXCLUSIVE… NEW BILL CALLS FOR STUDY TO ASSESS VALUE OF LANDS AND WATERS BLOCKED FROM OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT

By Callie Patteson
January 28, 2025

This morning, House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington of Texas introduced the “Abundant American Resources Act” to determine the economic value of resources protected or withdrawn from oil and gas development by the Biden administration. 

The details: The legislation, shared exclusively with Daily on Energy prior to being introduced, would order the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to conduct studies on the value of onshore and offshore minerals across sweeping regions of federal lands and waters. It would include areas that are protected from future oil and gas drilling, such as national monuments, areas that are of critical environmental concern, or regions withdrawn from future leasing. 

With the legislation, Arrington is taking aim at a number of climate-related actions taken by the Biden administration, seemingly accelerating the phase-out of fossil fuels. For example, the previous administration designated eight new National Monuments across 4.7 million acres, offered up what the industry described as limiting lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and used the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to bar future drilling in 625 million acres of federal waters. 

Arrington has labeled these actions as a “whole-of-government assault on American energy independence” amid rising energy demand. 

“One of the most overreaching actions taken by President Biden was to federalize millions of acres of land, effectively preventing the federal government from extracting oil, gas, and minerals from these areas,” he said in a statement obtained by Daily on Energy. “I’m proud to introduce the Abundant American Resources Act to shed light on how much revenue and energy production President Biden left on the table and equip President Trump with data that supports his American Energy Dominance Agenda.”

Former congressional Western Caucus Chairman Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington is also backing the legislation, saying the U.S. has failed to “fully tap into our own abundant resources.” 

“This legislation is an important step to further identify our resources and begin the process to start developing them as demand continues to rise,” Newhouse said. “I am proud to join Rep. Arrington as we work to return America to energy dominance.”