Oklahoma U.S. Sen James Lankford was among Republicans on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to introduce legislation aimed at prioritizing American energy production.
They call it S.3287 or the Strategic Production Response Act which would prohibit the secretary of Energy from tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for reasons other than a severe energy supply interruption until the secretary of the Interior issues plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands and waters.
“President Biden’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not a solution for the skyrocketing energy prices that American families are facing.” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the ranking Senator on the committee.
“Before tapping the Reserve for political reasons, our bill requires the administration to issue a plan to boost federal oil and natural gas production. The Strategic Production Response Act provides a real solution to the Biden administration’s reckless policies. America is stronger and safer when we are energy independent.”
The bill was introduced by Barrasso and Senators Steve Daines (R-MT), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Lee (R-UT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Hoeven (R-ND), James Lankford (R-OK), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).
“Since taking office, President Biden has worked to destroy Made in America and Made in Montana energy every step of the way—from killing the Keystone XL pipeline to halting new oil and gas leases on federal lands. Now, President Biden is begging OPEC to produce more oil and is tapping into the nation’s oil reserve to try and cover up the ramifications of his disastrous anti-American energy policies. These desperate moves are not the solution—investing in American energy production is, which includes oil and gas. Instead of tapping into emergency reserves, we need to boost domestic production, and any reserves removed in an effort to cover up his mistakes must be refilled, it’s as simple as that,” said Daines.
Read the text of the bill here.