President Joe Biden's order to pause new leases for oil and natural gas from public land and coastal waters will prove "devastating" to Louisiana if the order becomes permanent, Rep. Steve Scalise said Tuesday.
"These are careers for people who have been working, in many cases, in the second and third generation producing American energy," the Louisiana Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "This is something that has allowed us to lower energy costs."
U.S. standards are much better than those where the oil jobs will eventually go, including countries like Russia and Venezuela, and as a result, "carbon emissions will go up because those countries don't have good standards," Scalise added. "We use the money in Louisiana to restore our coast. It's a big environmental issue, rebuilding land lost over decades from the levying of the Mississippi River. It comes from drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Where will that go?"
The story will also be hard on other states, said Scalise.
"John Kerry can fly around on a private jet telling you not to fly on a commercial airliner," said Scalise. "Where do you think the jet fuel will come from ... it will come from foreign countries who don't even like America and who emit more carbon. You will increase global emissions and crush American jobs. Explain how that is prioritizing Americans or the hard-working families who depend on it."
Scalise also slammed Biden's latest plans on the distribution of coronavirus vaccines to immigrants, after the Department of Homeland Security said people entering the country should get the shots, according to a CNN report.
"Now President Biden will allow people who come here illegally to get the vaccine before some Americans who have been waiting for months," said Scalise. "It's mind-boggling. It sets back his 100-day plan. There is only so much vaccine to go around."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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