4 Texas Dems in House decry Biden decision

WASHINGTON — Four Texas Democrats in the U.S. House are urging President Joe Biden to rescind his executive order pausing oil and gas leasing on federal lands, writing in a letter to the president that it’s the wrong time to take such action as the economy slowly recovers from the coronavirus downturn.

“Now is not the time to jeopardize American jobs, or the critical tax and royalty revenues that federal leases generate for local, state, and federal government that need funds now,” wrote U.S. Reps. Lizzie Fletcher of Houston, Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth.

Biden issued a series of executive orders Wednesday aimed at shifting the U.S. off fossil fuels.