Charleston, WV – Today, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the below statement following the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Final Notice of Sale (FNOL) and Record of Decision (ROD) for Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 that reduces the size of the sale by approximately 6 million productive acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.  

“This Administration continues to kowtow to radical environmentalists at the expense of American energy security and costs to American families. Let me be clear, the exclusion of more than 6 million productive acres from the upcoming offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico based on a settlement reached in the name of protecting Rice’s whale while conveniently only targeting oil and gas is yet another example of this Administration's intentional undermining of the strong energy security provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. Notably, they have issued no such blanket ban for future offshore wind in this area. Today’s announcement comes months after the Department of the Interior put in black and white that they were choosing climate over energy security during the Alaska lease sale. The IRA required lease sales to get oil and gas leasing back on track to reduce the cost for working families to cook, heat their homes and fill their gasoline tank.”