The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to cite the United States’ largest oil field for violating ozone pollution standards, a move that will threaten the end of oil and gas production in the region.
According to the Texas Governor’s Office, the proposed regulations will directly affect the Permian Basin, the largest oil field in the United States, accounting for 95,000,000 gallons of gasoline per day or 40% of the oil produced domestically.
This would be just one more move from Biden’s administration to impact the lives of every American by reducing the fuel supply and causing gas prices to soar well beyond Biden’s record of $5 per gallon.
“Even as Americans are struggling with $5 gas and record-breaking inflation, team Biden continues to double down on their political commitments to ‘end all fossil fuels,’” former EPA Chief of Staff Mandy Gunasekara told reporters Wednesday.
According to a report by Bloomberg, regulators would have three years to propose solutions to the violations. However, ongoing regulatory uncertainty common to Biden’s ever-increasing climate change initiatives is likely to disincentivize new permits and drilling in the oil field.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott reacted strongly to the proposal and called the EPA to drop the proposal.
President Biden's EPA seeks to stop gas production in the Permian Basin.
This will raise gas prices EVEN MORE.
This action is completely discretionary.
Biden has the power to stop it.
Read my full letter: pic.twitter.com/o788QPGYdj
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 27, 2022
According to a letter he sent to the administration Monday, Abbott pointed out the direct impact on the lives of Americans. Abbott pledged that if he did not hear back from the administration by June 29, he would take action to “protect the production of oil—and the gasoline that comes from it.”
Abbott called out the hypocrisy of the Biden White House, which has claimed empathy for Americans struggling to afford gas. He said that the EPA’s move would only make things worse for the nation.
The letter states, “You say that you want ‘to bring refineries back online to get more gas to the pump at lower prices…’ That goal… could be thwarted if the EPA is allowed to move forward with its discretionary regulatory process.”
He also states, “If you let the EPA move forward with the untimely and unnecessary measures that accompany redesignation, that action will put 25 percent of American oil supply at risk. That, in turn, could substantially increase the cost of gasoline.”
As of Thursday, there has been no direct response from the White House or the EPA.