President's Day: Today's Energy Abundance is the Collective Legacy of Past Presidents

Mason Hamilton
Posted February 19, 2024

Each year on this day – the third Monday in February – Americans celebrate the birthdays of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and reflect on the legacies of all past presidents. Often overlooked in presidential legacies is how policies affected access to America’s abundant energy resources. What’s clear is that the domestic energy supplies Americans enjoy today are greatly impacted by presidential administration policies from decades ago.

Since the passing of the 22^nd Amendment, which limited presidents to two four-year terms, U.S. presidents have a maximum of eight years in office – which is the blink of an eye in terms of energy investment horizons. For example, producing oil and natural gas offshore, in places like the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, can require more than a decade of planning, engineering, and developing before a single molecule is extracted and brought to market.

Similarly, presidents do not directly control energy prices. Rather, through their actions, policies and laws, they may influence supply and demand well into the future. Therefore, presidents often find themselves thankful or frustrated with decisions made three to four presidents ago, rather than their immediate predecessor. 

Today, offshore lease sales that occurred under President Clinton (1993-2001) account for the largest share of current U.S. offshore crude oil production, which is about 1.8 million barrels per day or 14% of total U.S. production. In contrast, lease sales that took place under President Trump and President Biden thus far have yet to generate almost any production.

Notably, offshore lease sales held under President Ronald Reagan still account for approximately 19% of U.S. offshore crude oil production – nearly 40 years later.

All that said, President Biden has work to do to build an all-of-the-above energy legacy – one that protects future American security by developing new energy sources and driving our economy forward with what our nation already does best: U.S. natural gas and oil.

The president should start by acknowledging that oil and natural gas provided nearly three-quarters of our nation’s energy in 2022 and are projected to be America’s anchor energy sources far into the future. But that won’t happen if that future production is not planned today.

 The administration has fallen short. It paused new onshore permitting for months after taking office, and it has not provided consistent quarterly onshore leasing opportunities, as required by law. Offshore, the story is worse.

The administration has held a few offshore sales, but it took an act of Congress and the federal courts to make them happen. Looking to the future, the administration’s five-year offshore leasing program is the smallest in program history, providing a maximum of just three sales through 2029 – and none this year. That means 2024 will be the first year since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration without a federal offshore lease sale.

Since offshore production from the Gulf of Mexico supplies about 15% of America’s total production, Washington’s scrawny plan is insufficient for our energy future and must be strengthened.

Energy should be a bipartisan rallying point in Washington, and President Biden could support that by joining with Democrats and Republicans in Congress pushing for federal permitting reforms that would support construction of needed infrastructure.

This, too, would be an enduring legacy for Mr. Biden.

Increasing access to resources and supporting energy infrastructure would help President Biden to be remembered for leading in ways that address real challenges ahead. Ongoing events around the world remind us how essential it is to secure America’s energy future – and how nations may be punished for failing to do so.