DENVER – Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma will testify at a hearing entitled “Promoting American Energy Security by Facilitating Investments and Innovation in Climate Solutions”
before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Sgamma will discuss the strategic advantages provided by America’s abundance of oil and natural gas as well as the threats to energy security posed by overreaching climate regulations. The hearing will take place Wednesday, March 23rd at 10:00 a.m. ET and is available on the committee’s website. “When Russian tanks rolled across the border of Ukraine, the realities of energy as a fundamental component of international security became crystal clear. The dependence of Europe on Russian oil and natural gas has created instability and constrained the response from the United States and the West,” said Sgamma. “Sanctions that squeeze Russian energy sources have meant even higher energy prices in Europe. Luckily, the United States is the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world. We are ramping up production in response to high commodity prices to help bring those prices down while providing Europe with clean, reliable sources of energy. DENVER – Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma will testify at a joint forum hosted by the Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee, House Energy and Commerce Committee, and House Select Committee on Climate on the impacts of President Biden’s energy policies and the current energy crisis. Sgamma’s testimony will focus on the regulatory and economic complexities around the 9,000 oil and natural gas drilling permits the White House has recently pointed out as it attempts to shift the blame from its policies. The forum will take place on Friday, March 18th at 10:00 a.m. ET and can be watched online.
“From the beginning of the Biden Administration continuing until today, the attitude toward American oil and natural gas has been one of hostility,” said Sgamma. “The president has stated repeatedly that U.S. production must come to an end because of climate change, even though increased natural gas electricity generation is the primary reason the United States has reduced more greenhouse gas emissions than any other country since 2005 and American emissions are dwarfed by increasing emissions from China. DENVER -- Western Energy Alliance today submitted public comments to the U.S. Department of the Interior regarding the Biden Administration’s America the Beautiful plan to preserve 30 percent of all land across the country by 2030. Since nearly 40 percent of American lands are already considered protected areas, the Alliance urges the department to count multiple-use public lands towards the conservation goal in the America the Beautiful Initiative.
“For the past century, public land managers have struck a balance between developing our country’s abundant natural resources while protecting our iconic landscapes. As a result, we’ve benefited economically and strategically at the same time we’ve preserved our natural beauty and environment,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Alliance. “However, the Biden Administration is working to upset that balance by pursuing policies to restrict working landscapes and close off more of our country. The Alliance supports balanced conservation of public lands, but the administration is on a preservation-only path that would put considerable energy and mineral resources off-limits, making us more dependent on unfriendly nations like Russia and China. FARMINGTON, NM -- Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held two public meetings regarding the withdrawal of 325,000 federal oil and natural gas acres within a ten-mile buffer of Chaco Culture National Historical National Park. Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma attended both sessions to provide support to the Navajo Nation’s proposed five-mile buffer, a better option that would balance the goals of greater protection of cultural resources while enabling Navajo mineral owners to develop their energy resources and support their families.
“The session was attended by many members of the Navajo Nation who live near Chaco park. They expressed grave concern that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s action to withdraw federal leases would impair their ability to develop the energy they own and provide for their families,” said Sgamma. “Despite the narrative from the department that only federal leases will be affected, companies are not able to develop isolated parcels of individual Navajo land adjacent to off-limits federal lands. The Navajo Nation Council has passed legislation to reduce the size of the ten-mile buffer to five-miles, a balanced compromise that respects the cultural ties of the distant Pueblo peoples while still protecting the livelihoods of local Navajos.” DENVER – In response to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Saturday night filing asking the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to stay the decision overturning the arbitrary use of the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC), Western Energy Alliance today issued the below statement attributable to Alliance president Kathleen Sgamma. In its filing, DOJ states that “work surrounding public-facing rules, grants, leases, permits and other projects has been delayed or stopped altogether so that agencies can assess whether and how they can proceed.”
“The Biden Administration’s action takes burying controversial news when nobody’s watching to a whole new level: usually it’s a late Friday evening release, not a Saturday night. When a government tries to overstep its legal authority on multiple levels, it must engage in such desperate moves. |
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