Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API), said at a policy event hosted by Breitbart News that durable, bipartisan permitting reform will help cement America’s energy dominance.
Sommers spoke with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle, who noted that API released a five-point agenda ahead of the 2024 presidential election for the new administration to enact to make America even more energy dominant.
“We put this agenda out last June, before the presidential election, and the reason we put it out, no matter who the president of the United States was going to be, here are the five big things we thought the president should focus on. Fortunately, President Donald Trump was elected, and I joke with the API board of directors that we need another five points, because this president has delivered over and over again for American energy,” Sommers told Boyle.
The five points of the plan:
- Protect Consumer Choice, so that Americans can decide for themselves if they wish to have a gas stove, gas furnace, a gas automobile, etc.
- Restore American Energy in Bolstering the United States’ Geopolitical Strength, such as lifting the Biden-era liquefied natural gas (LNG) permitting pause
- Leverage America’s Natural Resources by utilizing the country’s abundant onshore and offshore energy resources
- Fix America’s Broken Permitting System, making it easier to build out America’s energy infrastructure
- Advance Sensible Tax Policy to make America a competitive place to invest
The API president noted that the Trump administration and Republican majorities in Congress quickly moved to axe Biden-era policies that hindered energy production.
He explained, “The first things they did, for example, they lifted that terrible LNG pause that was put in place by the last administration. That happened on day one. They repealed the EV mandate. We just saw a bill signed into law that went through the House of Representatives and the United States Senate and repealed the terrible California EV mandate.”
“Time and time again this administration has delivered on big promises that they were going to make America energy dominant again,” Sommers said.
Sommers said the country still needs permitting, which “is going to require a bipartisan consensus because it will require 60 votes in the United States Senate.”
“What we’re looking for is durable permitting reform — permitting reform that will survive whether Republicans are in office or Democrats are in office.”
Sommers said that the Biden administration had zero lease sales — until then-Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stepped in.
He said, “There were only two lease sales in the Gulf of America during the Biden administration. …[T]hose occurred because of a … compromise with Sen. Manchin that there have to be lease sales in the Gulf of America if he was to vote for the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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