During consideration of Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) offered an amendment to “prohibit the Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating rules or guidance that bans hydraulic fracturing in the United States.” During debate on the Senate floor, Cramer stated, “This amendment would simply prohibit any ban on hydraulic fracturing. Such a ban would raise Americans’ cost of living, weaken our national security, and, of course, actually enhance greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to the technology of fracking, since 2007, U.S. oil production has doubled, and natural gas production has increased by 60 percent…. And, by the way, banning fracking would lead to triple-digit oil prices and possible global economic shock as per the University of Chicago.”
The Senate adopted Cramer’s amendment on August 10, 2021 by a vote of 57 to 42 (Roll Call 323). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the federal government should not interfere with energy exploration. Regulation of various industries, such as energy, is not one of the federal government’s enumerated powers under the Constitution. Allowing the United States to fully utilize its energy resources would make the country more self-sufficient and potentially create millions of jobs.
