The cracks within the Democratic Party have started widening up after President Joe Biden and his disastrous policies and their implementation have started hurting even the staunchest Democrats. According to news reports, New Mexico Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has cast her aspersions over President Biden’s order of pausing oil and gas leasing on federal lands which is all set to hurt the shale industry of New Mexico and in turn Michelle’s core voter base.
Reported extensively by TFI, shortly after coming to power, Biden passed a blanket order (January 27) that banned new oil and natural gas leases and drilling permits on federal land and in federal water for 60 days. Grisham in an interview said that the moratorium by Biden was pushed without any guidance.
Grisham said, “I’m clearly concerned that right out of the gate with very little guidance, we have an announcement to stall … a moratorium on lease applications, and the reality is: a lot of oil and gas … in the Permian [Basin] is on private land in Texas.”
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She continued further and iterated that the ban on fracking activities hurts New Mexico. She added, “So, wherever you are — wherever you are in the country or on the chamber, however you feel about that — you can simply just move, and that just hurts New Mexico, and there are no environmental standards there.”
The governor continued, “The last issue is: It’s an economic problem for the state, but rather, it’s also a message to states to not do anything and wait for you to do it, and you’re not going to get as far as fast. If you’re looking for innovation [in] environmental policy, you’re going to stall that.”
If a report prepared by a top oil and natural gas industry group last year is to be believed, if Biden permanently pauses oil and natural gas development on public lands and waters, Americans would face 1 million job losses by 2022. 120,000 jobs may be lost in Texas alone and 62,000 jobs may be lost in Grisham’s state, New Mexico.
It is imperative to note that, according to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), more than 60 per cent of New Mexico’s oil and gas production is on federal land while 55 per cent of state wells are located on federal land.
Read more: Is Joe Biden punishing Red-state Texas? His recent policies are tipping Texas into chaos
The environment needs to be protected but introducing sweeping changes in the energy industry sector in such a short span of time is expected to sow the seeds of a dystopian and catastrophic future.
As reported by TFI, the state of Texas during the recent ‘deep freeze’ saw the repercussions of the irrational green deal that Biden has been trying to push. The windmills that Biden and his Democrats have been pushing as the future of America and Texas froze to death and as a result, millions of Americans plunged into darkness. It was only the ‘polluting’ oil and natural gas sector that came to the rescue and helped provide electricity to ordinary Americans.
Forget assimilating Republicans into making major energy policy decisions, Biden needs to get his house in order by taking in confidence, the likes of Governor Grisham who have now openly mocked the feasibility of his ideas.
It is high time that the Biden administration rails back its enthusiasm in implementing the green deal and work with the involved stakeholders to chalk out a middle ground, otherwise, a major civil war might break out in the Democratic ranks.