Biden makes governors in energy producing states vulnerable

 Washington Examiner:

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is taking a risk by choosing to accommodate rather than fight President Biden’s pause on new oil and gas leases.

"When you have to represent the entire state and 45% of the budget comes from oil and gas, and the majority pays for education, there is a lot going on to consider," said Rep. Angelica Rubio, a Democrat in the state’s House of Representatives. "New Mexicans have always been heavily reliant on this industry, regardless of what party you are," Rubio told the Washington Examiner.

Lujan Grisham, who shares Biden's priority of addressing climate change, hasn't fulfilled a promise during the 2020 presidential campaign to seek a waiver exempting New Mexico from a leasing pause.

Her administration has pushed back in quieter ways, writing a letter last month warning that Biden’s orders have “resulted in on-the-ground uncertainties" that have contributed to drilling rigs in the state moving to private lands in Texas.

Another Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, is responding to a similar fix more forcefully as he looks to stave off Biden’s orders, which also pause oil and gas leasing in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Edwards, a second-term governor reelected in 2019, has had conversations with the Biden administration to make the case for continued leasing in the Gulf, warning a moratorium “could adversely impact our state, or the energy security of our country.”

“This is a game of Twister for him without a doubt,” Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, a Republican, told the Washington Examiner. “He is all wrapped up and twisted trying to navigate through this because one of the first actions from his party is to deliver a real gut punch to Louisiana’s economy.”

...

These states are in trouble and governors like Lujan appear to be rolling over for the gut punches to their economy.  Because most of the production in Texas is on private ground it will probably benefit from the increased price of oil because it can ramp up its production.  The country as a whole will be hurt by the Biden move.  People will be paying more for transp[ortation and for electricity because of his scheme and states with federally controlled production will be in even more trouble.

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