Representative Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) released a statement in response to the Protecting American Energy Production Act passing the House of Representatives, saying, "House Republicans are fighting to unleash our energy wealth and ensure American energy dominance."
The Protecting American Energy Production Act was initially introduced by Representative Jeff Duncan (R-SC) in February 2023 and prohibits the President of the United States from unilaterally declaring a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (AKA fracking) without Congressional approval, which passed the House during the 118th Congress in March 2024.
At the beginning of January, Representative August Pfluger (R-TX) reintroduced the bill.
In his press release, Rep. Haridopolos bashed the Biden Administration's repeated kneecapping of domestic energy production, saying, "Over the last four years, the Biden administration waged a war on American energy, driving up costs and forcing us to rely on foreign oil and gas from communist dictatorships like Venezuela."
In 2023, President Biden partially lifted economic sanctions on Venezuela, granting a six-month general license that temporarily authorized transactions in the Venezuelan oil and gas sectors and a second general license that authorized the operations of state-owned Minerven, a previously sanctioned gold mining company that had been forced to operate on the black market.
The lift came with the condition that the regime of dictator Nicolas Maduro ensure that the upcoming elections in his country be free, fair, and observed by international third parties. However, the promise was broken in July 2024 when Maduro stole the election with widespread evidence of fraud.
More recently, just before leaving office, Biden issued a sweeping ban on all future offshore drilling on both coasts, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the North Bering Sea in Alaska. ABC News reported that Trump's vows to reverse this last-minute moratorium will be difficult to enact due to Biden's use of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which makes such bans permanent if issued by the executive.
As a result, Rep. Haridopolos continued, "With the passage of Rep. Pfluger's Protecting American Energy Production Act, House Republicans are fighting to unleash our energy wealth and ensure American energy dominance."
