Two Democrats Join Call for Increased Domestic Oil Production

“[We should] basically go back to the policies that we’ve had before,” Manchin added. “And that’s– we have to do our leasing in the Gulf [of Mexico], ok, [Bureau of Land Management] lands [have] been off-target, all this has to go back in, into production. That’s all we’re asking for. And if we’re asking the rest of the world to step up, let’s show that we’re going to step up. And any oil that’s needed to our allies around the world, we produce it cleaner than anybody.”

Manchin, who is currently the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Commerce Committee, is withholding his vote on Biden’s nominee for a role in the Department of the Interior that would oversee the federal leasing programs. He reportedly wants assurances that the Department will resume leasing and production on federal lands.