Sens. Kelly, Manchin Urge Biden Administration to Boost Domestic Energy Production Amid Rising Gas Prices

Today, U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Committee, called on the Biden administration to move forward with domestic oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico. In a letter to President Biden, the Senators leaned on the administration to develop and implement a new Five-Year Program for offshore production. Approximately 98 percent of offshore oil produced by the United States occurs in the Gulf. The current Five-Year Plan expires in June, and it’s unclear if the Biden administration will move forward with a new round of lease area designations in 2023.

“Americans are facing record-level gasoline prices every day when they commute to work, drive their children to school, and buy groceries and medicine,” wrote Senators Kelly and Manchin. “Increasing domestic oil production to meet demand is a critical step to lowering gas prices and reducing our reliance on foreign sources. Allowing energy projects to languish in court or remain suspended in years of bureaucratic limbo is not addressing the pain at the pump or the climate crisis.”

The Senators’ letter also addressed the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through an all-of-the-above energy policy.

“Advancing Gulf production does not mean our nation must abandon its climate goals,” continued Kelly and Manchin. “The United States can and should increase its renewable energy production and lower its greenhouse gas emissions, but this must occur responsibly, pragmatically, and through an all-of-the-above energy approach that takes advantage of our resources at home.”    

Read the Senators’ letter to President Biden HERE.