Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) stated, “Biden’s Bureau of Land Management just announced two land grabs to kill responsible oil and gas leasing on Colorado’s West Slope. Locking up another 1.6 million acres at a time when gas prices are skyrocketing just shows how out of touch this administration is with rural America. Families in the Third District depend on these jobs to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. I stand with Colorado’s roughnecks against this misguided overreach by federal bureaucrats that seeks to lockup our land and that will further increase pain at the pump.”

Background:

Today, Biden’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Grand Junction and Colorado River Valley Field Office Resource Management Plans. The proposed plans would destroy Colorado energy jobs on the Western Slope and prevent responsible oil and gas production on 1.6 million acres. After this plan is implemented, 80% of the land managed by the Colorado River Valley Field Office will be closed to new oil and gas leasing. Likewise, this plan will close 81% of the land managed by the Grand Junction Field Office to new oil and gas leasing. Currently 87% of the decision area managed by the Colorado River Valley Field Office is open for oil and gas leasing and most of the area in the Grand Junction Field Office decision area is also open for oil and gas leasing.

These proposals will cause significant job losses, limit multiple-use of our public lands, and worsen sky-high gas prices. BLM released a draft rule last month to hinder responsible energy development on federal lands by raising royalty rates.

Shutting down energy production is an irresponsible way to manage our natural resources. Colorado’s Third District is home to the 2nd largest shale basin in North America. Colorado’s Third District accounts for nearly 44% of Colorado’s natural gas production, and Colorado is the 7th largest natural gas-producing state.

America makes the cleanest energy in the world, so it is nonsensical to shut down American energy production and rely on importing dirty energy from countries that hate us. Our natural gas is 42% cleaner than Russian gas. American innovation has allowed America to be the global leader in reducing emissions since 2000. We need to stop buying oil and gas from Russia, stop begging OPEC, Venezuela, and even Iran to produce energy for us, and start producing more energy responsibly in America. These overly restrictive management plan proposals prevent that from occurring.   back...