Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is one of 17 Republican governors asking President Biden to withdraw his order banning new oil and gas development on federal land and offshore waters. “Pause the pause,” they wrote the White House.
In their Feb. 22 letter, they argued the order has a negative economic effect upon western states and will spike American residential energy costs by $1.7 billion a year.
“Simply put, the Order jeopardizes our national security interests and strips away the opportunity for Americans to be energy independent,” stated Stitt and the other governors.
The governors also said the order “inevitably shifts development away from U.S. federal lands—to other countries.”
They noted of the President’s call for unit to end the divide pitting urban versus rural.
“In contract, the lack of consultation with our states demonstrated by Executive Order 14008 is alarming showing disregard for the citizens we serve and the businesses that employ them and keep our country running and our nation secure,” wrote the governors.
