WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil & Gas Leasing Program for 2017-2022, Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, today issued the following statement:
“Despite the millions of jobs and billions in revenue that the energy industry has created, the Obama administration today continued its efforts to limit the development of America’s bountiful energy resources. Although the proposed draft OCS leasing program finally opens areas off the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Georgia for a single lease sale, it also prohibits any exploration off the Pacific coast, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and additional areas in Alaska. Today’s plan, coupled with the president’s announcement earlier this week to lock off areas of the Alaskan coastal plain that were specifically set aside for potential energy development, highlights the disconnect between our economy’s energy needs and the administration’s misguided attempts to meet those needs.
“U.S. demand for oil and natural gas will increase 12 percent by 2040, and the U.S. will still rely on these important energy sources for nearly two-thirds of all energy consumption. Withdrawing large sections of the Arctic OCS and Alaskan coastal plain, limiting the full potential of the Atlantic, and continuing to keep billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of gas under lock and key as the administration is proposing are not what we need to secure our energy future and release America’s energy potential.”
The mission of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy is to unify policymakers, regulators, business leaders, and the American public behind a common sense energy strategy to help keep America secure, prosperous, and clean. Through policy development, education, and advocacy, the Institute is building support for meaningful action at the local, state, national, and international levels.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.