Dems now pushing Biden to approve offshore drilling plan

 Washington Examiner:

A group of congressional Democrats is lobbying the Biden administration to overcome delays and approve a new program for offshore oil and gas leasing as Washington's ruling party faces pressure to reduce record fuel prices ahead of November's midterm elections.

The lawmakers are asking the administration to publish quickly the next five-year offshore leasing plan, which is required by law and lays out the sales the government is to hold in a given year, as the current one will expire next month with no successor in place.

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act directs the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to develop a program laying out scheduled sales covering five-year periods.

The current five-year program, which covers 2017-2022, ends in June. The Biden administration has not published a draft program, and the Congressional Research Service said in an offshore program update published last month that the administration is too far behind to be able to finalize a new program before the current one expires.

Four Texas Democrats wrote President Joe Biden on Wednesday, saying the United States "can and should be doing more to meet the global energy demand" and asking that his administration publish a new program.

"The energy crisis in Europe demonstrates the vital national security benefits of robust domestic production and the consequences of relying on foreign nations to satisfy our energy needs," said Reps. Henry Cuellar, Sylvia Garcia, Vicente Gonzalez, and Lizzie Fletcher.

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The anti-energy left within the Biden administration appears to dragging its feet.  They need to get on this most ricky-tick.  They are playing into Russia's hands with these delays.  The Biden anti-energy policy is primarily responsible for funding Putin's war in Ukraine.  Putin has only attacked other countries when left has artificially pushed up the price of oil and gas, i.e. when Obama and Biden have been President.