In a recent episode of “Pod Force One,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgham claimed that the Biden administration has significantly harmed US oil and natural gas production through a series of executive actions.
“We’ve been under pressure in North Dakota as an energy-producing state since Biden took office,” Burgham mentioned while speaking with columnist Miranda Devine. “As I prepare to leave [office in 2024], we’re tangled up in over 30 legal disputes with the federal government.”
Burgham, who is also part of the Western Governor’s Association, expressed feeling the impact of the Democratic administration’s stance against fossil fuels, which he believes adversely affects the state’s vast resources.
“Alaska has faced 68 executive orders aimed against it from Biden’s administration,” he noted. “Interestingly, developments in Alaska have progressed more readily than those in Iran.”
He remarked, “Under Biden’s watch, it seems that China has acquired a lot.”
Just before Biden left office, he enforced a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, specifically along many parts of the American coastline, including Alaska’s North Bering Sea. However, he later reversed this decision upon taking office as the 47th president.
Biden also restricted energy companies from pursuing drilling activities on a sizable portion of federal property following a 2020 campaign promise to halt new fracking sites.
“It’s striking how he declared, ‘I won’t drill on federal land any more,'” Burgham observed. “It’s a puzzling stance when we need more energy, particularly to confront growing challenges.”
He went on to criticize efforts to curb mining, forestry, and oil and gas production on federal lands.
The Biden administration has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives and subsidies to promote renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.
Full episode
In the meantime, Biden has begun to draw down US strategic oil reserves, reportedly amounting to around 300 million barrels, in an effort to lower gas prices as mid-term elections approached in 2022.
Burgham suggested that the trend began long before, tracing back to the Obama administration. “We’ve steered America away from its own natural resources, leaning toward expensive and unreliable energy sources,” he stated.
He pointed out that many renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, often depend on materials sourced from China, which leads to a concerning reliance on foreign imports for critical energy needs.
“It’s like we’ve turned ourselves into a discounted gas station for China, and that just hasn’t worked well,” he added.
Concerns were raised that a large share of the processing for essential minerals needed in US defense and industry now occurs in China, as noted by officials from the previous administration.
The Department of the Interior manages 500 million acres of land and 2.5 billion acres offshore, a significant repository of vital minerals, oil, and gas resources, according to Burgham, who previously had a billion-dollar software enterprise.
“There are immense coal resources on federal land,” he concluded.
