The White House also used Thursday’s announcement to criticize the domestic energy industry for “sitting on” more than 12 million acres of federal land and 9,000 unused but already approved permits for production.
Specifically, Biden implored lawmakers to impose fees on companies that aren’t using wells from their leases on acres of public lands.
“Companies that are producing from their leased acres and existing wells will not face higher fees,” the administration said. “But companies that continue to sit on non-producing acres will have to choose whether to start producing or pay a fee for each idled well and unused acre.”
