Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., led a coalition of 16 senators urging the Biden administration to withdraw environmental regulations that they said are a “clear attempt to shut down oil and gas operations.”
Cruz, Manchin and the 14 other lawmakers penned a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its subagency the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), taking issue with regulations designating a large swath of the Gulf of Mexico as a “critical habitat” for the endangered Rice’s whale. They argued the rules lacked evidence and, instead, seemed designed as a backdoor restriction on fossil fuel drilling.
“The proposed rule as written fails to comply with important elements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and would jeopardize domestic energy production, national security, and other important interests,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter shared with Fox News Digital late last week.
“In designating any particular area as a critical…