Arizona U.S. Representatives Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) introduced a bill recently that would nullify the Biden administration’s block on oil and gas drilling on federal land surrounding New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon National Historical Park near the Navajo Nation.
Crane and Gosar introduced the bill in response to a new, 20-year ban the Biden administration placed on oil and grass drilling for what PBS reports is “hundreds of square miles” in the area immediately surrounding the Chaco Canyon National Historical Park.
The Energy Opportunities for All Act would “nullify the Biden admin’s overreaching actions,” Crane’s office wrote in a press release announcing the bill. The congressmen warn the Biden administration’s new rule will result in hundreds of millions in lost revenue to Navajo mineral owners throughout the ban, depriving the Navajo Nation of tribal revenues and economic growth.
The press release noted that Biden administration Interior Secretary Deb Halland previously complained “the Trump administration failed to fulfill its legal and moral obligation to consult with Native Americans” on a separate lease sale but is now ignoring the input of the Navajo Nation.
“This administration likes to talk about their supposed support for Tribal communities but has no problem implementing a destructive chokehold on Tribal revenue and economic prosperity,“ said Crane in a statement. “Secretary Haaland and President Biden are throwing Navajo Nation under a bus driven by extremists with no concern for Native interests or the energy needs of all Americans.”
Crane wrote on Twitter that President Joe Biden and Haaland “could have taken sensible action that both protected the park and allowed for economic prosperity” but instead, “they ignored Navajo Nation and undermined their self-determination.”
.@POTUS and Interior @SecDebHaaland could have taken sensible action that both protected the park and allowed for economic prosperity.
But they ignored Navajo Nation and undermined their self-determination. https://t.co/3FOsNSvUmM
— Rep. Eli Crane (@RepEliCrane) June 5, 2023
In a statement to The Arizona Sun Times, Gosar echoed Crane’s sentiments and suggested the move is part of a wider effort by the Biden administration to stymie the American energy sector.
The decision “represents Mr. Biden’s latest effort to impose his radical agenda by locking up our nation’s land and water while further crippling domestic energy production and pushing the United States into greater dependence on foreign sources for energy,” Gosar told The Sun Times.
He added that Biden’s move “will impact the Navajo Nation across all boards, from infrastructure to permits for tribal ranchers and jeopardizes private mineral rights while completely ignoring the many concerns raised by the Navajo Nation” and lamented that there “was no consultation” and “no answers provided” to Navajo leaders.
“If allowed to go into effect, Navajo mineral owners would lose nearly $200 million over that 20-year period,” said Gosar. “The Biden Regime needs to reconsider this disastrous decision.”
The Navajo Nation previously criticized the Biden administration and Haaland in 2021, when the rule banning oil and gas drilling in the area was first proposed.
“The Biden Administration bypassed previous requests to Congress for field hearings and for leaders to hear directly from our Navajo families affected in the Chaco Canyon region,” Navajo Nation Council Speaker Seth Damon said in a statement in 2021. “It is important that the federal government consider and work with our Navajo allottees to further advance development.”
“The Administration must respect our tribal sovereignty and what the government to government relationship entails,” Damon said.
Damon noted the Navajo Nation “voted overwhelmingly to support” a compromise to ban oil and gas drilling within five miles, which “would protect the park while enabling Navajo mineral owners to access their prime oil resources.”
The Navajo Nation boasts the largest land area held by any Native American tribe in the United States, occupying portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah.
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Tom Pappert is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Tom on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
