{"id":1406696,"date":"2022-03-29T08:01:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T12:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1406696"},"modified":"2022-03-29T08:01:17","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T12:01:17","slug":"democrats-vilify-groups-that-contribute-billions-to-land-conservation-because-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-vilify-groups-that-contribute-billions-to-land-conservation-because-climate\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Vilify Groups That Contribute Billions To Land Conservation, Because Climate"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-vilify-groups-that-contribute-billions-to-land-conservation-because-climate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1406696&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/15807772139_02c9496d60_k-e1644968032795.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>House Democrats will continue to vilify oil producers next week in an effort to cast blame on the industry for high energy prices after congressional lawmakers held a series of hearings complaining corporations were engaged in producing any oil and gas at all. Tax revenues from the nation\u2019s lucrative resources, however, fund the same conservation programs Democrats proudly claim to protect.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, Arizona Democrat Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee Ra\u00fal M. Grijalva <a href=\"https:\/\/naturalresources.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/chair-grijalva-invites-fossil-fuel-executives-to-testify-on-increased-gas-prices-amid-industrys-record-profits-unused-drilling-permits\">asked<\/a> executives from EOG Resources, Devon Energy Corporation, and Occidental Petroleum to appear before lawmakers to \u201cexamine the fossil fuel industry\u2019s failure to help stabilize American gasoline prices.\u201d Gas prices eclipsed their 2008 peak in the first half of March, reaching a nationwide average of $4.33 per gallon, and remained within 10 cents of the new high Monday afternoon at $4.25 per gallon, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/gasprices.aaa.com\/\">AAA tracker.<\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>Democrats: Big Oil Is Evil<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIn response to rising gas prices, the fossil fuel industry and its proponents have ramped up pleas for more oil and gas development on U.S. public lands and waters,\u201d Grijalva\u2019s office wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/naturalresources.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/chair-grijalva-invites-fossil-fuel-executives-to-testify-on-increased-gas-prices-amid-industrys-record-profits-unused-drilling-permits\">press release<\/a>. \u201cThese demands contradict the fact that fossil fuel companies are currently sitting on millions of acres of non-producing leases and hold more than 9,000 approved, but unused permits for drilling on public lands and waters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those 9,000 permits, however, don\u2019t mean producers are sitting on rights to extract untapped reserves at the flip of a switch. Considering the profitability of oil in the current moment, such conduct would be corporate malpractice. <\/p>\n<p>Rights of Way (ROW) permitting, which can take years to approve, is still required, along with the capital needed to drill. And uncertainty about operations on federal lands, prompted by the White House, has held back the investment needed to ramp up operations. Meanwhile, another 4,600 permits to drill are <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/23\/smaller-oil-and-gas-producers-blast-bidens-blame-game-on-high-energy-prices\/\">awaiting approval<\/a> from the Interior Department\u2019s Bureau of Land Management run by an <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/01\/senate-democrats-confirm-domestic-terrorist-tracy-stone-manning-to-lead-bureau-of-land-management\/\">ecoterrorist<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The hearing scheduled for April 5 follows the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/03\/04\/democrats-oversight-committee-fossil-fuel-industry-hearing-climate-change\/\">quiet cancellation<\/a> of the House Oversight Committee Democrats\u2019 March 8 hearing with oil executives as domestic energy production was unable to counter the overseas turmoil interrupting the global oil market after being <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/11\/11\/joe-biden-could-bring-down-gas-prices-tomorrow-hes-choosing-not-to\/\">suppressed<\/a> by the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<p>In February, Democrats held their second in a series of hearings to indict \u201cbig oil\u201d as \u201cbig tobacco,\u201d where industry executives are dragged before Congress and made villains over the consequences of their products.  <\/p>\n<p>Despite the parallel lacking nuance \u2014 considering that oil and gas production has opened the door to unprecedented flourishing and with it, the ability to navigate global unrest and adapt to a changing planet \u2014 Democrats pushed onward in their crusade to demonize the industry <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/02\/08\/democrats-are-struggling-to-defend-high-energy-prices\/\">even as power prices continued to skyrocket<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-seven years ago, seven tobacco executives appeared in this room before Congress. Rather than admitting the truth about their product, the executives lied,\u201d Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney of New York said in her opening statement at the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/29\/house-democrats-celebrate-high-gas-prices-by-demonizing-oil-industry\/\">first hearing<\/a> in October. \u201cThis was a watershed moment in the public\u2019s understanding of big tobacco. I hope that today\u2019s hearing represents a turning point for big oil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The committee featured a panel of experts on energy and the environment in its second meeting, and will reconvene a third hearing in March bringing back industry representatives. <\/p>\n<h2>Big Oil Contributes Billions to Land Conservation<\/h2>\n<p>The day after Democrat lawmakers railed against the industry in the February hearing, officials from the Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernenergyalliance.org\/blog\/interior-wont-admit-a-game-changing-conservation-program-relies-on-oil-and-natural-gas-royalties\">celebrated<\/a> \u201cgame-changing\u201d and \u201chistoric\u201d financial commitments to conservation programs from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) signed by President Donald Trump in 2020. The funding came from oil and gas profits, but officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.senate.gov\/hearings\/2022\/2\/national-parks-subcommittee-hearing-on-the-great-american-outdoors-act\">testifying<\/a> before the National Parks Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee made no mention of the donors.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/116th-congress\/house-bill\/1957\/text\">GAOA<\/a> enhanced two endowments for the preservation of public lands. The National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF), established by the GAOA, provides up to $1.9 billion a year to meet the needs of a $20 billion maintenance backlog. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which previously relied on variable appropriations, was given permanent funding of $900 million on an annual basis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/lwcf\">paid<\/a> from oil and gas revenues. The same industry provides at least half the funding of the LRF established by the GAOA. <\/p>\n<p>While the Interior Department has not released exact numbers on industry donations to the LRF, <a href=\"https:\/\/revenuedata.doi.gov\/query-data\/?dataType=Revenue\">data<\/a> from the Office of Natural Resources Revenue shows the federal government raked in more than $4 billion in oil and gas revenues, half of which is stipulated by the GAOA to be deposited in the LRF until the $1.9 billion dollar cap is reached. <\/p>\n<p>Congress has historically appropriated approximately a billion in additional funding to maintenance projects on federal lands, making contributions from the energy industry double what lawmakers typically provide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGenerally speaking, there\u2019s not much awareness that energy revenues are contributing to these conservation programs,\u201d Scott Cameron, who served as the Interior Department\u2019s acting assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget under President Donald Trump, told The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>The industry, however, is at the center of environmental rage from Democrats, outdoor corporate retailers, and left-wing activists who place blame for land degradation entirely on oil and gas producers despite <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/09\/03\/devastation-from-california-wildfires-was-entirely-preventable-through-proper-land-management\/\">improper management<\/a> by government officials and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2018\/nov\/20\/national-parks-america-overcrowding-crisis-tourism-visitation-solutions\">overcrowded<\/a> parks bringing their own impacts. <\/p>\n<h2>Democrats Don\u2019t Really Want Conservation, They Want the Oil Industry Extinct<\/h2>\n<p>Kathleen Sgamma, the president of the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, chalked up the hostility as \u201creally just a theme of those who don\u2019t want oil and gas development on federal lands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey know that if they keep raising costs, eventually they\u2019ll make it so expensive that it goes away,\u201d Sgamma told The Federalist, as the Biden administration continues to unleash a cascade of taxes and regulations on production in the pipeline <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/11\/11\/joe-biden-could-bring-down-gas-prices-tomorrow-hes-choosing-not-to\/\">contributing<\/a> to record energy prices.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Colorado received more than $<a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/sites\/doi.gov\/files\/list-of-fy2021-projects-by-bureau.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">38 million<\/a>\u00a0for maintenance and repairs, including nearly $32 million for Rocky Mountain National Park. In 2022, the state is expected to get $<a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/sites\/doi.gov\/files\/list-of-fy2022-projects-by-bureau.pdf\">29 million<\/a> based on the Interior Department\u2019s project list, nearly $23 million of which is slated for Mesa Verde National Park.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado\u2019s two Democrat senators, however, have joined their party in vilifying the oil and gas industry as demon actors in the fight against climate change. Both championed Biden\u2019s industry-hostile \u201cBuild Back Better\u201d legislation and John Hickenlooper, who sits on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has similarly compared oil executives to the big tobacco giants of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1994\/04\/15\/us\/tobacco-chiefs-say-cigarettes-aren-t-addictive.html\">1994<\/a>. Absent aggressive action on climate beyond the commitments already made, Hickenlooper told E&#038;E News in November, oil giants \u201cwill end up like tobacco companies and to a certain extent vilified.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think for many Americans, they\u2019re getting close to the point of no return,\u201d Hickenlooper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/why-john-hickenlooper-didnt-join-manchinema\/\">told<\/a> the paper.<\/p>\n<p>Hickenlooper\u2019s senior colleague Sen. Michael Bennet, who is up for re-election in November, has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bennet.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/2021\/1\/bennet-joins-senate-democrats-in-calling-for-strengthened-safeguards-limiting-methane-pollution-from-oil-natural-gas-production\">called<\/a> for more aggressive regulations that specifically target the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Democrats will continue to vilify oil producers next week in an effort to cast blame on the industry for high energy prices after congressional lawmakers held a series of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1406696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1406696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1406696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1406696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1406696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}