WASHINGTON — Moments after Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) called President Joe Biden’s energy executive orders a ‘betrayal’ to working Americans, fellow Louisiana State Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) echoes his colleague’s critical sentiments regarding Biden’s ban on oil and gas leases.
Biden signed a raft of executive actions to combat climate change, including pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land and cutting fossil fuel subsidies, as he pursues green policies he billed as a boon to the economy.
The orders map out the direction for the Democratic president’s climate change and environmental agenda and mark a reversal from policies under former Republican President Donald Trump, who sought to maximize U.S. oil, gas and coal output by removing regulations and easing environmental reviews.
Kennedy’s statement from the video above reads:
“Today President Biden has issued an executive order that bans all new oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and on other public lands throughout the United States. Now, look, I’m not going to bubble wrap this.
“This is bad. This is really bad. This is devastating to America. We have just become energy independent, but this is devastating to Louisiana. Our GDP in Louisiana is a little over a couple hundred billion dollars a year.
“I’ve seen studies that show fully a third of that is related to oil and gas, directly or indirectly. This is not just going to impact oil and gas jobs and families.
“This is going to hurt petrochemical. It’s going to hurt our refineries. This is going to cause people to leave our state. If we lose all these jobs and people leave, the average age in Louisiana is going to be deceased.”
“I am very upset, and I want to ask all of my colleagues, my Democratic colleagues, in Louisiana and the legislature and local government, state government to please call President Biden,” said Kennedy. “Call the White House and let them understand how much this is going to hurt Louisiana families.
“I can’t imagine anything right now—in the middle of a coronavirus when our economy is shut down—I can’t imagine much that would be worse for Louisiana families.
“I have introduced a bill today to reverse President Biden’s action. I’ve got to have some Democratic support in the Senate to pass it, but, if I can pass it, it’s basically going to take away the power of President Biden to do this and require that we have at least two lease sales every year in the Gulf of Mexico.”
U.S. State Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA/District 4) took his thoughts to Twitter Wednesday, saying Biden’s policy is hurting working families.