When the U.S. Senate gave overwhelming approval to the nation’s new energy bill, it did not have the support of Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford.
“I cannot support legislation that uses taxpayer dollars flippantly,” said the Republican Senator in a statement after the Wednesday morning vote. “The bill encourages an expansion of federal land holdings by permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund, even though the maintenance backlog on our current federal lands exceeds $18 billion.”
He said the bill also increases government involvement for how Americans use energy which, said the Senator, should be left to the consumer.
“With our nation’s debt issues, we need to find savings in as many federal programs as possible instead of expanding our debt even more,” he added.
Sen. Lankford attempted to amend the Energy Policy Modernization Act on Tuesday in a move to promote reform to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It would have required spending on land acquisition to not exceed spending on maintenance and also to have Congressional authorization for acquisitions under the fund that cost more than $50,000 an acre. But the amendment failed on a 34-63 vote.
