Through recent Executive Orders, Secretarial Orders, and legislation introduced in Congress, the oil and gas industry and their allies in Congress are seeking to effectively sell off millions of acres of our public lands, elevate oil and gas development as the dominant use of public lands, and claw back critical reforms to the federal oil and gas leasing system.

Specifically, Senator Daines from Montana has introduced the alarming Supporting Made in America Energy Act which would effectively sell-off more than 200 million acres of our public lands to the oil and gas industry, threatening the West’s wide open spaces, wildlife, recreation, water, and more. That acreage is roughly the size of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming combined.

This bill, which could be fast-tracked through the Senate through the budget reconciliation process, would prioritize policies that elevate oil and gas development above all other uses of public lands, including:

• Expanding oil and gas leasing on public lands through mandated quarterly lease sales, and requiring lease sales on all eligible federal parcels in eight Western states – that’s over 200 million acres.
• Repealing Inflation Reduction Act provisions, including fiscal reforms, expression of interest fees, and reinstating the wasteful practice whereby oil and gas companies can purchase leases non-competitively for just $1.50/acre, and more.
• Forcing the Department of the Interior to offer all industry-nominated parcels for lease by prohibiting deferrals.
• Ending the restriction of new leasing in areas that local communities worked hard for years to protect because of their importance to the people who live there, like the Greater Chaco Canyon region in New Mexico and the Thompson Divide in Colorado.

Now is the time to stand with our public lands! If you believe oil and gas development should not happen near schools, places of worship, cemeteries, and other public spaces then submit a comment today! Make your voice heard and tell your senators that Westerners do not support the giveaway of our public lands to the oil and gas industry.