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WASHINGTON -- Reaction from Ohio and West Virginia lawmakers was swift after President Joe Biden signed executive orders intended to stave off the climate change crisis.
The president on Wednesday signed executive orders to, among other intentions, pause the issuance of oil and gas leases on federal land, go to an all-electric fleet of federal vehicles, expand off-shore wind energy and promote solar energy.
The measures are to address a climate change crisis, said Biden, who also intends to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline to carry crude oil to refineries in the U.S.
"The Biden administration signals with these executive orders that America is heading backward from energy independence toward reliance on foreign sources," U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said.
Biden's action are intended to do away with fossil fuels regardless of the impact on the economy and security, said U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., a ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.
"No window dressing of a working group to help these areas in the transition can change that," he said.
Biden's actions place a burden on the U.S. while nations like China and India will continue to emit more greenhouse gases, Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., said.
"America should continue with these commonsense policies instead of moving back to the days when the Obama-Biden Administration was waging war on coal and natural gas," he said.
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, said he was disappointed, but not surprised. Job losses have already started with the revocation of the Keystone permit, he said.
"The bottom line is that this is just the start of a war against domestic energy that will target not only jobs, but also the cost of living for those who use electricity and drive a car," Johnson said.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the new chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he was informed by the White House it intends to pause new oil and gas leases on federal lands and "fully evaluate the state of production on current leases."
"Currently, 53 percent of onshore acres leased and 77 percent of offshore acres leased have no active production," Manchin said. "It is prudent to evaluate if taxpayers are receiving a fair return for the use of their resources. This executive order will not impact energy activity like drilling or permitting on existing leases."
The senator also said he told White House representatives he remains committed to innovative energy technologies to address climate change while encouraging energy independence. The focus should be on using all resources in the cleanest way, he said.
The executive orders commit the administration to focus on reinvesting in communities where there has been a loss of traditional energy jobs, such as in West Virginia, Manchin said.
"I intend to hold the administration to this while ensuring that the burden of any acceleration in already-changing markets is not unduly placed on these communities that powered our nation to greatness," Manchin said.