August Pfluger had barely been sworn into Congress, representing District 11, which includes Midland and Odessa, when he filed his first legislation. 

The Republican has filed the Saving America’s Energy Future Act, legislation designed to prevent the incoming Biden Administration from implementing a moratorium on issuing new oil and gas drilling permits on federal lands. 

The legislation is “the first step – I didn’t want to wait, I wanted to send the message that the industry is important for its jobs, to the economy, to the nation,” Pfluger told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview. 

He went on to add, “By putting this forward, I want to see where people stand. There are Democrats who represent districts with energy operations. Are they pro energy or do they want to kill the industry?” 

“We are committed to doing what I said I would do during the campaign, and that’s stand up for oil and gas. Ever since I first put on the Air Force uniform in 1996, we’ve been talking energy security. That the Permian Basin is responsible for 70 percent of the total US oil and gas production growth is amazing. The US is the No. 1 producer in the world, we’re not reliant on foreign energy 

Approximately 25 percent of the nation’s oil and gas production is from federal lands, Pfluger pointed out, and a moratorium on new drilling would directly impact Midland and Odessa. A number of producers headquartered in the two cities are also active in southeast New Mexico, he noted. 

“I want to send the message that it’s not OK with a decision to ban new drilling permits and the impact it would have on jobs, the economy and national security. When you look at the revenues New Mexico gets from state lands, that fund schools, it makes no sense.” 

Pfluger estimated that if hydraulic fracturing alone were banned on federal lands, it could cost up to 7.5 million jobs. “Not only that, it would return us to a heavy dependence on foreign oil, up to 40 percent by 2030.” 

Beyond oil and gas, he said the resulting decline due to a ban on oil and gas activity on federal lands would impact industries – like agriculture, a major industry in his district – across the state and the country. 

“That’s how critical this is. That’s why I didn’t want to wait. I want Democrats to know how critical the industry is.”