Source: United States Senator for Alaska Dan Sullivan
03.28.22
President Must Course Correct, Unleash American Energy Independence, Senators Say
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) today urged the Biden administration to fully commit to implementing the “American Energy, Jobs & Climate Plan.” With last week’s announcement that the Biden administration intends to work with the European Union to help reduce European reliance on Russian natural gas, the senators are calling on the administration to take serious steps to reverse its anti-American energy policies and implement a plan that offers realistic and achievable solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower energy costs, create millions of jobs for hard-working Americans, and provide energy security to America and our allies.
Originally introduced last November, the plan offers an alternative to the unrealistic and harmful ambitions of policy-makers seeking to shut down natural resource development in the United States. Instead, the plan leverages America’s many unique strengths and positions America back on a path to provide energy to the world. The plan would also accelerate America as a leader in reducing global emissions. If implemented, the plan could reduce global emissions by up to 40 percent by 2050 by building upon what has already worked—U.S. natural gas, technological innovation, and the free market.
“This announcement suggests the Biden administration has finally acknowledged—albeit half-heartedly—the need for America to leverage its unique energy strengths,” Sen. Sullivan said. “Their announcement still falls short of the course correction required to unleash American energy and resolve the energy crisis facing Americans and our allies. American resource development, especially natural gas, needs to be part of the long-term solution if we want to realistically solve the crisis at hand. We need to implement an all-of-the-above energy plan that prioritizes the infrastructure and permitting reform needed to leverage our world-class energy resources—which we have in abundance in the great state of Alaska. That’s exactly what our American Energy Jobs & Climate Plan will do, while also creating millions of good-paying jobs.The administration should take immediate action to increase energy production at home, as outlined in a letter 22 of my colleagues and I sentthree weeks ago, and work to implement the American Energy, Jobs & Climate Plan as quickly as possible.”
“We have a geopolitical opportunity right now to cut Putin’s malign influence and we should be taking full advantage of it. The Biden administration should pursue a long-term solution by working with us to implement the American Energy, Jobs & Climate Plan. It will reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and the West’s reliance on dirtier fuels from our adversaries. Doing so avoids unilaterally disarming our own economy and losing ourselves to a 2050 fantasy. The Biden Administration is finally beginning to understand energy security is both national security and economic security, but if they are serious about real change we look forward to working with them on the principles in this plan,” said Sen. Cramer.
“Instead of half measures, President Biden should commit his administration to unleashing clean American energy to free our allies from dependence on dirty Russian energy,” Sen. Lummis said. “Our resources and ingenuity can solve the current energy crisis hitting not only the United States but our allies around the world. The American Energy, Jobs & Climate Plan is the perfect roadmap for how to do this, and Senators Dan Sullivan, Kevin Cramer and I are ready to help President Biden to implement it.”
BACKGROUND:
Below is a timeline of Sen. Sullivan’s recent efforts to bolster U.S. energy production:
- On August 16, 2021, Sen. Sullivan sent a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm urging her and the Biden administration to allow Alaska—rather than America’s adversaries, like Russia and Iran—to meet the nation’s all-of-the-above energy needs, including oil and natural gas, and the numerous critical minerals used in renewable energy technologies.
- On September 27, 2021, Sen. Sullivan previewed the American Energy, Jobs & Climate Plan at the 2021 National Clean Energy Week conference.
- On November 3, 2021, Sens. Sullivan, Cramer and Lummis announced the American Energy, Jobs & Climate Plan, an innovative clean energy and climate strategy intended to boost domestic energy production, reduce global emissions by up to 40 percent from today’s levels by 2050, and create thousands of jobs for hard-working Americans.
- On November 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law, including a provision secured by Senators Lisa Murkowski and Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, making the long-sought Alaska LNG project eligible for Department of Energy loan guarantees of up to $18 billion.
- On November 23, 2021, Sen. Sullivan called President Biden’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve “political window dressing,” and urged the President to rescind his administration’s policies restricting domestic oil and gas production.
- On December 7, 2021, Saule Omarova withdrew her nomination to serve as comptroller of the currency following pressure from Sen. Sullivan and other members concerned about her stated intent to “bankrupt” American energy companies.
- On December 12, 2021, Sen. Sullivan sent a letter to the inspector general (IG) of the Department of the Interior (DOI) requesting an investigation of four senior political appointees in the department who are allegedly working on matters directly related to and benefitting their previous clients and work—specifically, working to halt certain resource development projects in Alaska.
- On March 1, Sen. Sullivan led a letter with 22 of his Republican colleagues to President Biden outlining 12 specific actions the President could take to unleash domestic energy production in order to lower skyrocketing energy prices and to help America’s European allies be less dependent on Vladimir Putin’s regime for their energy supply.
- On March 3, Sens. Sullivan, Murkowski and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced legislation to prohibit the importation of Russian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- On March 10, Sens. Sullivan and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced legislation to prohibit the importation of Iranian and Venezuelan crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas into the United States.
- On March 14, Sen. Sullivan highlighted a memo issued by acting Interior Assistant Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis, not confirmed by the Senate, early in the Biden administration that changes the Interior Department’s standard procedures and orders career department staff across the country to seek Daniel-Davis’ approval on all applications to drill on federal lands.
- On March 23, Sen. Sullivan spoke in a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee about the great strides the United States has made reducing greenhouse gas emissions, largely driven by the revolution in natural gas.
- On March 24, Sen. Sullivan previewed legislation he will be introducing to give average American investors more control over how their investments are managed by the three main Wall Street asset managers—Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street. These institutions control more than 82% of all assets flowing into investment funds over the past ten years, and have used this power to discourage investment in the domestic energy sector.
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