Liveupdate
Mar 06, 2026

House Passes Bill To Prevent Fracking Moratorium

Ảnh hiện tại

The Republican-led House passed a bill that would stop future presidents from banning oil and gas drilling without getting permission from Congress first. Lawmakers voted to pass the “Protecting American Energy Production Act,” which says that the president can’t “declare a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium.”

There were 118 Democrats who voted against the bill, but all Republican House members voted for it to pass. The bill comes after former President Joe Biden put in place several rules for the oil and gas industry. For example, he banned all future oil and gas drilling along 625 million acres of coastal and offshore waters just weeks before he left office.

Rep. August Pfluger, a Republican from Texas, said that worries about possible fracking bans during the Biden administration led to the bill.

“When President Biden took office, his administration took a ‘whole of government’ approach to wage war on American energy production, pandering to woke environmental extremists and crippling this thriving industry,” Pfluger said in a statement following the bill’s passage.

“My legislation that passed today is a necessary first step in reversing Biden’s war on energy by preventing the federal government from banning the use of hydraulic fracturing,” he said.

Earlier this month, the U.S. House voted 213 to 184 to pass legislation aimed at speeding up federal permitting for interstate natural gas pipelines.

The bill would designate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the lead agency for pipeline permitting reviews.

Under the legislation, FERC would be allowed to consider water quality assessments as part of its environmental review, rather than waiting for separate Clean Water Act certifications from states.

Supporters say state-level certifications have often delayed pipeline approvals for years. The bill is titled the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act. It is one of several measures in Congress aimed at accelerating federal permitting processes.

Another bill, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today Act, also passed the House with bipartisan support. Lawmakers have made broad permitting reform a priority as they seek to expand energy infrastructure to meet rising electricity demand.

That demand has grown in part due to the rapid expansion of data centers across the country. Supporters of the legislation also argue that faster permitting could help reduce household energy costs, particularly by enabling quicker construction of energy projects that can increase supply and competition in the market.

Other posts