Chair Castor Statement On President Biden's Proposed New Five-Year Drilling Plan

WASHINGTON (July 1st, 2022) – Chair Kathy Castor of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released the following statement on Friday in response to the Biden administration's proposed new five-year plan for offshore oil and gas drilling:

"At a time when Big Oil CEOs are price gouging consumers at the gas pump and hoarding nearly 9,000 unused drilling permits, we simply cannot afford to give them any more handouts,” said Chair Castor. "That’s why I urge the Biden administration to strengthen today's proposal and do more to reduce harmful oil and gas drilling off our coasts. New offshore drilling will not drive down prices in the short term; in fact, the industry already has more than 2,000 active leases on more than 11 million acres of federal waters, and 75% of them are currently not producing oil or gas. We should not reward Big Oil executives for keeping gas prices artificially high, while also moving the United States further away from our clean energy goals.

"Instead of doubling down on drilling, we must double down on producing affordable clean energy in America. That's our path to energy security and energy independence."