Henry Cuellar: “I would like to clarify for any of my colleagues who might be concerned that these three offshore lease sales provided…”

“I would like to clarify for any of my colleagues who might be concerned that these three offshore lease sales provided through the Inflation Reduction Act are somehow being rushed through or will be conducted with insufficient administrative process. That is simply not the case. These sales were scheduled under the Obama Administration under the 2017-2022 five-year plan. That Interior department subjected the plan to a large programmatic environmental impact statement. They then underwent a multi-sale EIS. These sales then also went through a supplemental EIS. Thus, the idea that any further process should be required is just not credible and that is why the bill requires them to occur by a date certain. It is in our national interest to do so as quickly as possible so that the energy crisis does not become even worse and so that the fuel and revenue these sales will generate can find their way into our economy sooner than later.”