US Senator John Barrasso says President Biden’s executive orders on energy will hurt economy
U.S. Senator for Wyoming John Barrasso says President Biden’s recent executive orders on energy will hurt the economy overall and he will find bipartisan support to undo some of them.
In January the administration signed a moratorium on new oil and gas permits on federal lands and repealed permits for the Keystone XL pipeline. Barrasso says this could affect a million jobs across the country and hit western states the hardest in terms of revenue.
“Our children who go to schools,” Barrasso said. “Our teachers who teach there, the projects that are built in the state. All of those things are related to money that comes in from oil and gas production so much of it on federal land.”
U.S. Senator for Wyoming Cynthia Lummis has introduced legislation to to help fight against those orders and already a quarter of the Senate has co-sponsored it. He says this is something that affects Democrat represented areas as well, so he believes this will receive bipartisan support.
“What has an impact is when we get Republicans and Democrats alike speaking out against this very liberal approach,” Barrasso said.
He says he believes the Biden administration’s goal is to completely eliminate fossil fuel production. He says it will be very devastating to Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West’s economies if we continue down that path. For now the ban is only temporary and he wants to make sure it is not a permanent one.
“We need to show the administration that there is opposition on both sides of the aisle,” Barrasso said.
He believes with former president Donald Trump the United States became “energy dominant” and he wonders if President Biden wants us to rely more on foreign sources. He says with energy you need it from all sources.
“The oil, the gas, the coal, the uranium, to nuclear power,” Barrasso said. “You need the wind power, the solar power because as a nation we continue to use more energy.”
He did not specify any timeline on Lummis’ bill, but highlighted again how much the revenue could hurt education which is already being forced to cut spending.
