(PartiallyPolitics.com) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was unsuccessful in her attempts to stop the House Republican from pushing for new oil and gas leases on federal land.
Ocasio-Cortez had previously suggested that another study into the public health impacts of energy extractions should be conducted before any additional leases were agreed upon. However, GOP lawmakers were quick to reject that opinion.
The House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday decided to proceed with setting up their work plan for the new Congress. In their plan, they note that the Biden administration has agreed to the smallest amount of leases on federal acres for oil and gas development that any of the previous administrations had since the end of World War II.
As part of their plan, the committee is planning on examining why there is a lack of oil and natural gas leases in the Western United States, and they will focus on all of the attempts and actions that allowed for delays and disincentivized the use of federal land.
Prior to the plan being adopted Ocasio-Cortez tried to pass an amendment that would have the committee collect “public health data” and examine the impact of drilling.
Ocasio-Cortez had said that they needed to acknowledge how these leases affected communities of color and frontline communities differently, this is why there should not have been any objections to the proposal that more data should be gathered.
However, Republicans disagreed and noted that the proposal did not take into account the health benefits that would come from energy development for future generations.
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