Last week, the Biden administration revealed its offshore drilling plan, drawing criticism from dozens of members of Congress, including Democrats who represent states that rely on energy production for their state's economy.
Now, Republican lawmakers are taking action, asking the Supreme Court to step in to block Biden from his apparent abuse of the 1906 Antiquities Act.
On Friday, the Biden administration revealed the final offshore drilling plan, showing only three lease sales through 2029 for the offshore oil and gas leasing program, which would make the fewest scheduled sales by any administration since this rule was put in place. This came after Biden had been pulling back land around the country under the protection of the 1906 Antiquities Act.
Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association, immediately pushed back, stating:
"President Biden's approach to severely limit leasing significantly curtails access to a critical national asset. The White House simply ignores energy realities by once again limiting U.S. energy production opportunities.
"With global demand at record levels and continuing to rise, regressive policies will harm Americans of all walks of life by putting upward pressure on prices at the pump, destroying good-paying jobs that form the fabric of Gulf Coast communities, and relinquishing geopolitical advantages of energy production to countries like Russia, Iran and China."
It was not necessarily a surprise to see that Republican lawmakers were going to start to pushback after the offshore plan was revealed, and pushback they did. Dozens of lawmakers signed off on a legal brief being presented to the Supreme Court to challenge Biden's use of the 1906 Antiquities Act.
The effort is being led by Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR), who stated:
"We urge the Supreme Court to hear these cases and send a clear message that the President cannot simply bypass Congress and rewrite our nation's land laws with the stroke of a pen.
"This is about upholding the Constitution, protecting our rural communities, and ensuring responsible management of our public lands."
The 1906 Antiquities Act has enabled Biden to block lands in several states for "normal use," which happen to be areas rich in minerals and fossil fuels. This has blocked mining, drilling, and fracking for states that rely on this for their local economy and jobs market.
This is just the beginning of the legal challenges that Biden is going to face, especially after his offshore drilling plan was revealed. Domestic energy is about more than just cheaper energy because it also impacts national security.
Biden has put forth a very aggressive climate change agenda without having the proper resources to offset the supply of domestically produced fossil fuels and the purchasing of minerals needed to make products such as EV batteries.
If this country is reliant on adversaries for energy, which is the direction that Biden is pulling this country, it is crippling in terms of being able to defend this nation. To that point, it will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court interprets the law and Biden's authorities on this matter.
