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committee will come to order the chair notes the presence of a quorum pursuant to committee rules members of the committee may submit written opening statements for the record ask that members may revise and extend the remarks on the bills to be considered at this markup and have those remarks included in the record without objection so ordered without objection the chair is authorized to declare recess of the committee at any time pursuant to committee rule 3i the chair announces that i may postpone further proceedings today on the question of approving any measure or matter adopting an amendment on which a recorded vote is ordered i now recognize myself for an opening statement good morning and thank you all for joining us for the full committee markup today we have a comprehensive lineup of legislation that continues this committee's work to unleash american energy and address bureaucratic dysfunction starting with three bills we're considering under regular order Congressman Hunt's Comprehensive Offshore Resources Enhancement Act of 2025, or the CORE Act, requires the U.S. Department of Interior and the Departments of Energy and State to modernize the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's resource assessment process with cutting-edge technology and standardized methodologies. Because of outdated technologies, current assessments have shown significant inconsistencies with some estimates fluctuating by as much as 30 billion barrels of oil and 100 trillion cubic feet of gas between 2016 and 2021 reports. Now to put that in perspective, the U.S. consumes about 7.39 billion barrels of oil per year. That was the number from 2023. So being off by 30 billion barrels is equivalent to more than four years of U.S. oil consumption. This inconsistency makes it difficult for our federal agencies and energy producers to develop a clear understanding of our domestic energy reserves. But this legislation provides critical updates to how the U.S. manages and assesses its offshore energy reserves and supports President Trump's policies to unleash American energy.
It will support production in the Gulf of America and Alaska, enabling BOEM to maximize the developments of energy resources and allowing the regions to reach their extraordinary resource potential. The Crow Revenue Act, introduced by Congressman Troy Downing, facilitates a land transfer between the Hope Family Trust and the Trow Crab of Montana. Currently, Signal Peak Energy operates the only underground coal mine in Montana, the Bull Mountain Mine, on the Hope Family Trust land. Due to the federal coal tracks that run in a checkerboard ownership pattern across the area, the mine will soon run out of accessible, recoverable, Mr. Downing's Crow Revenue Act streamlines federal lands transactions like this one and removes the red tape and regulatory barriers that delay mining development and undermine domestic coal production. This legislation supports our committee's work with the administration to unleash American energy and reinvigorate America's coal industry. Congressman Buddy Carter's Undersea Cable Protection Act removes bureaucratic red tape and burdensome regulations that prevent new undersea cables from being laid in existing marine sanctuaries. It's been two decades since the last undersea cables were installed. Today, this critical infrastructure carries almost all intercontinental global internet traffic and transoceanic digital communications. These cables also play a crucial role in deploying technologies like artificial intelligence. We depend on the connectivity they provide, and we cannot allow bureaucratic regulations to limit our ability to develop these crucial lines of communication with the world. Mr. Carter's legislation is consistent with President Trump's executive orders to address barriers to American leadership and AI and reduce federal regulatory barriers. It allows the existing robust permitting process to continue without layering on further bureaucratic hoops. In addition to our three regular order bills, we will put forward 16 unanimous consent bills on which we have reached bipartisan agreement.
These bills include expanding free access to our federal lands for law enforcement officers, ensuring access for Alaska native Vietnam era veterans to land allotments they are entitled to, returning local control to our critical watershed, and more. I look forward to our discussions. I yield back and recognize Ranking Member Huffman for his opening statement.
Thank you, Chair Westerman, and good morning, everyone. So Washington, D.C. and most of the eastern United States have been stuck under a brutal heat dome for the past few days. Temperatures are soaring. The heavy humidity drawn in from high ocean temperatures is adding to the misery High heat and humidity can be a deadly combination for humans. It is one of the hallmarks of our rapidly and dangerously heating world. Now, I realize that this is a committee markup and not the Weather Channel, but what's happening outside this building can't be ignored, especially when the policies coming out of this committee are helping to make it worse. Just last month, we marked up the natural resources portion of the big ugly bill, which was full of giveaways to the fossil fuel industry, to polluting companies, all to help pay for tax breaks for billionaires. And now we are back today with more of the same. Bills to expand coal mining and offshore oil and gas drilling as if we can simply ignore the climate crisis, as if it's okay to do things that we know or should know will actually make it worse. Between these efforts, we heard from Secretary Burgum a couple of weeks ago who took the opportunity to totally dismiss solar and wind energy despite the fact that renewables made up 92% of new power added globally and almost 94% in the United States last year. As battery technology improves and costs plummet, storage solutions are surging and providing on-demand power that's keeping the lights on, air conditioning running, and money in people's pockets. But instead of harnessing America's abundant sun and wind power to bring down electricity costs and strengthen our energy independence, Republicans are intent on locking the country into more expensive, polluting, volatile fossil fuels.
That choice only ties us to the past. It exposes Americans to global price volatility and price shocks that come with global conflict, with supply chain disruptions, with natural disasters, with any number of other things that continuously interrupt fossil fuel supply chains. Rather than advancing domestic energy solutions and partnering with our allies to compete with China in the clean energy future, something we were doing pretty effectively through policy and financing tools that Democrats put in place.
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