“I find it difficult to believe we would not be facing an energy crisis if we had maintained greater energy independence,” Hyde-Smith said.
During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) pressed energy experts on how the United States should maximize domestic oil and gas production.
“I find it difficult to believe we would not be facing an energy crisis if we had maintained greater energy independence, including exporting significant amounts of liquefied natural gas,” Senator Hyde-Smith said.
“After President Biden’s ban on new oil and gas lease sales on federal lands and offshore, the Administration continually gas-lit Americans by saying there are ‘9,000 approved drilling permits not being used.’ However, we know it is one thing to have a lease, it’s another for it to actually have the green light to produce on that lease after jumping through ever-increasing regulatory hoops,” Hyde-Smith continued. “All this to say, we are nowhere close to realizing our nation’s full potential as a global energy producer.”
Last week, Senator Hyde-Smith and her Republican colleagues on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee provided President Biden with a plan to regain American energy dominance.
The Senators made their energy recommendations in a letter to Biden that outlines the 10 steps the President and Congress should take to “help spur greater American energy production, blunt Russia and China’s energy-fueled geopolitical ambitions, and restore America’s dominant role in global energy.”
“It’s imperative we take back our nation’s energy dominance. Doing so would help knock the wind out of Russia’s sails, boosting our economy, and strengthen the security of our nation and our allies,” Hyde-Smith said.
The letter includes steps such as cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline, removing barriers and reforming regulations for energy infrastructure like pipelines, approving mining permits for critical minerals, and more.
Mississippi Senators Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker (R-MS) have advocated for ramping up U.S. natural gas production in order to reduce global dependence on Russian energy sources.
Both Senators cosponsored the Energy Security Cooperation With Allied Partners In Europe (ESCAPE) Act. Hyde-Smith also authored the Domestic Energy Crisis Relief Act (S.3353).
