WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Katie Britt (R-AL), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) introduced the Warding Off Hostile Administrative Lease Efforts (WHALE) Act to prevent the U.S. Departments of Commerce and the Interior from issuing maritime rules related to the Rice’s whale that would impede offshore energy development and military activities.
“At the last minute, the Biden administration imposed additional mitigation measures the Department of the Interior previously said were unnecessary and removed six million acres offshore for Rice’s whales at the request of their environmental donors. Is there really no way for the whale to swim away from and around the area?” said Dr. Cassidy. “We can protect wildlife, military activities, and vital energy production in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time.”
“Instead of placating Green New Deal activists, Washington needs to be doing everything we can to restore our nation’s energy independence,” said Senator Lummis. “We are facing an energy crisis in this country with sky-high gas prices that have increased the cost of everything and added fuel to the inflationary fire. The WHALE Act will effectively thwart the Biden administration’s latest regulatory excuse it created out of thin air to target domestic energy production.”
“The Biden Administration is continually putting a leftwing agenda ahead of common sense and the wellbeing of hardworking American families. Prioritizing partisan activism over economic opportunity and domestic energy dominance is irresponsible and further fueling persistent inflation. I’ll continue to fight back against President Biden’s reckless regulatory regime,” said Senator Britt.
“President Biden and his administration have a distinct history of prioritizing the radical demands of Green New Deal activists over the economic and security needs of Americans,” said Senator Hyde-Smith. “The WHALE Act will prevent the Biden administration’s latest scheme in its long line of regulatory overreaches to suppress American energy production.”
“We all want to protect wildlife and promote conservation efforts, but the Biden administration’s approach lacks transparency, scientific evidence, and excludes the voices of educated stakeholders and experts in favor of select activists. Instead of truly aiming to protect Rice’s whales, the administration consistently tries to stonewall America’s domestic energy production through burdensome and unnecessary regulations,” said Senator Tuberville.
U.S. Representative Clay Higgins (R-LA-03) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Southwest Louisiana is home to a thriving maritime and oil and gas industry. Each serves as a critical economic engine for our community and this great nation,” said Representative Higgins. “Enforcing limitations by allowing partisan politics to assuage environmental activists drastically affects our economic prosperity and sets us up for massive failure. We cannot afford to slow down transportation and devastate America’s energy resources.”
The WHALE Act:
- Prevents the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior from issuing rules or offshore oil and gas lease requirements or recommendations that establish vessel speed or vessel operational restrictions;
- Requires the Departments to complete a study demonstrating that any mitigation protocols developed to protect Rice’s Whales (RWs) in the Gulf of Mexico will not have a negative impact on supply chains, United States offshore energy production and generation, military activities, including readiness, and United States commercial and recreational fishing or maritime commerce;
- Requires the Secretary of Commerce to develop mitigation protocols that make use of real-time location monitoring and location information; and
- Prohibits mitigation protocols and forbids evening transit or vessel speed or vessel operational restrictions.
Background
Earlier this year, a coalition of radical environmental interest groups filed a petition with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish year-round vessel speed restriction zones and other mitigation measures for Rice’s whales—a species of whale that was only recognized by NOAA as a distinct species two years ago. In response, NOAA proposed a rule to establish critical habitat for the species where they acknowledged critical oil and gas and military activity occurs.
Similarly, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) reached a sue and settle agreement with radical environmental interest groups to establish vessel transit restrictions and other obligations for offshore oil and gas leaseholders only including removing millions of unleased acres from leasing. Although a federal district court recently ruled that BOEM could not do so, it’s expected these stipulations and the effort to withdraw acreage will appear in the next 5-year offshore oil and gas leasing program.
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