GOP Sen. Cramer on Native Leaders Criticizing Biden Energy Policies: He’s Throwing out Justice, Equity to Keep ‘Oil in the Ground’ 

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) weighed in on Native American leaders criticizing the Biden administration for its policies toward oil, gas, and coal development on tribal lands by stating that the tribes “know what’s best for themselves. They know what their members need. They know the advantages” but Democrats seem to have thrown their rhetoric about equity and justice out in favor of “keeping oil in the ground.”

Cramer said, “[T]his has been going on for some time. I mean, even in the Obama administration, when I was in the House on the Natural Resources Committee, we had a hearing about gas gathering lines and flaring of natural gas, which was happening more on tribal land and on other federal land, largely because of the layers of bureaucracy and because the administration, the Democratic administration was hypocritical in terms of the conflict between the sovereignty for Native Americans and their reservations versus the left’s desire to stifle the oil and gas industry.”

He added, “It really is something. And you have treaty rights here, you have — obviously — some legacy obligations here. But the fact of the matter is, they are sovereign in how they govern themselves, and that same sovereignty in how you govern yourself means — extends really to your natural resources. … [T]hey know what’s best for themselves. They know what their members need. They know the advantages of jobs, the high-paying jobs, wealth creation. It’s — again, it’s their natural resources. And you would think that, just as a matter of justice, we hear a lot about justice and equity from the left, and yet, here’s a situation where they certainly seem to have thrown some of those priorities out the window and replaced it instead with keeping oil in the ground.”

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