AG Landry rips Biden administration over rising energy prices

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is calling out President Joe Biden over domestic energy policy after the president’s decision to ban Russian oil and gas imports in opposition to the war in Ukraine.

Landry is leading several legal challenges to Biden administration policies, including moving liquefied natural gas, the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions and offshore oil and gas leases, and now he is urging the president to reconsider what the attorney general describes as “Joe Biden’s war on American energy.”

“While Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine presses on, so does Joe Biden’s war on American energy; and the American people are footing the bill with a crippled economy, destroyed livelihoods, and threatened national security,” Landry said Tuesday in a statement. “Now more than ever before, we must fully open up domestic energy production – especially in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Landry said Biden administration policies have increased energy costs for Americans since he took office, and he warned the situation only will get worse without an abrupt change.

Landry led a coalition of 25 attorneys general who sent a letter to Tristan Brown, the acting administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), last month outlining opposition to a proposed rule by the Biden administration to suspend authorization to transport liquefied natural gas by rail tank cars.

The letter came about two weeks after a federal court granted Landry’s request for a preliminary injunction to halt Biden Executive Order 13990, which tasked federal agencies with factoring in the social cost of carbon for virtually all federal actions.

Landry argued on behalf of 10 attorneys general that the executive order is a backdoor attempt to take over numerous industries, and Louisiana is particularly impacted because of the state’s leadership in domestic energy production.

Landry also led a successful challenge to overturn Biden’s attempt to suspend sales of oil-and-gas leases when he took office, though a federal judge invalidated the largest offshore oil-and-gas lease sale in the nation’s history in late January. The sale, which started under the Trump administration, would have opened nearly 2,700 square miles to drilling.

“For too long, Joe Biden has recklessly abused his power to sabotage American energy independence – increasing the cost of living and making it harder for Americans to support their families,” Landry said Tuesday. "The pain at the pump has now reached all-time record highs, and cutting off Russian oil without increasing American energy will not reduce gas prices.”

“Within days of taking office, Joe Biden used his pen to halt federal lease-sales and obstruct permitting authority; illegally cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, a crucial piece to breaking our dependence on overseas oil, over the express direction of Congress; and revive the job-killing social cost of carbon scheme,” he said.

“I have matched Joe Biden’s egregious violations of the rule of law with an even greater force in support of the Constitution. I have led successful multi-state lawsuits against Biden and will continue to vigorously defend American families and businesses from further unconstitutional overreach.”

Landry is urging Biden to take action now to reduce the burden on Americans from the Russian oil-and-gas ban by increasing energy production at home, echoing similar sentiments from conservative lawmakers across the country.

“I call on the president to immediately choose reliable, affordable, and secure American fossil fuels,” he said.