The bill
Protecting American Energy Production Act
HR. 26, 119th Congress — read as touching Oil & Gas.
Sponsored by
Rep. Pfluger, August [R-TX-11]
ID: P000048
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 26, 119th Congress — read as touching Oil & Gas.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
23 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 554-556 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
February 9, 2025
📍 Current Status
Next: Both chambers must agree on the same version of the bill.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Another masterpiece of legislative lunacy, courtesy of the 119th Congress. Let's dissect this trainwreck and expose the festering wound that is HR 26.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The Protecting American Energy Production Act (PAEPA) - a title so laughably Orwellian it's almost as if they're trying to be ironic. The main purpose of this bill is to prevent a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, because God forbid we actually consider the environmental and health consequences of injecting toxic chemicals into the ground.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill's primary provision is to prohibit the President from declaring a moratorium on fracking unless authorized by an Act of Congress. Because, you know, the President might actually try to do something responsible with their executive powers. This provision is essentially a preemptive strike against any attempts to regulate the fossil fuel industry.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects are involved in this farce:
* The oil and gas lobby, who will stop at nothing to ensure their profits continue to flow like the toxic wastewater they produce. * State governments, who will be granted primacy over regulating fracking on state and private lands. Because local control is always a great idea when it comes to environmental issues (sarcasm alert). * The American people, who will once again be forced to bear the costs of this industry's reckless behavior.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** This bill is a symptom of a deeper disease - the corruption and capture of our government by corporate interests. By preventing any meaningful regulation of fracking, PAEPA ensures that the oil and gas industry can continue to ravage our environment with impunity.
The potential impact? More earthquakes, more contaminated water sources, more respiratory problems for nearby communities. But hey, at least the energy companies will make a killing (pun intended).
In conclusion, HR 26 is a legislative abomination that prioritizes corporate profits over public health and environmental protection. It's a classic case of " regulatory capture," where our elected officials are more concerned with serving their donors than their constituents.
As I always say, "Everyone lies." And in this case, the sponsors of PAEPA are lying about their true intentions - to protect the interests of their corporate masters at any cost. The rest is just legislative theater designed to distract us from the real disease: a government that's terminally ill with corruption and greed.
Rep. Pfluger, August [R-TX-11]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 10 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: H001093
Top Contributors
10
ID: B000740
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10
ID: L000599
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10
ID: B001282
Top Contributors
10
ID: G000594
Top Contributors
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ID: C001118
Top Contributors
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ID: G000603
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ID: G000601
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ID: M001204
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ID: L000600
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10
Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 59 nodes and 38 connections (54 secondary connections hidden)
Total contributions: $153,835
Showing top 16 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 2 helped.
Section 2(b) prohibits the President from declaring a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing unless authorized by Congress, which benefits oil and gas extraction by preventing federal bans on fracking.
By protecting hydraulic fracturing operations, the bill supports continued production that drives demand for pipelines, storage, and midstream infrastructure used to transport oil and gas.
For each industry this bill affects, here's what the sponsor (Rep. Pfluger, August [R-TX-11])received from donors associated with that industry during the 2022–present cycles. Donations are not proof of intent — they are a record of who funds the people writing the law.
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.
— 522 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise similar agency actions made in compliance with that order.18 Meanwhile, the new Administration must immediately reinstate the following Trump DOI sec- retarial orders: l SO 3348: Concerning the Federal Coal Moratorium;19 l SO 3349: American Energy Independence;20 l SO 3350: America-First Offshore Energy Strategy;21 l SO 3351: Strengthening the Department of the Interior’s Energy Portfolio;22 l SO 3352: National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska;23 l SO 3354: Supporting and Improving the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Federal Solid Mineral Leasing Program;24 l SO 3355: Streamlining National Environmental Policy Reviews and Implementation of Executive Order 13807, “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects”;25 l SO 3358: Executive Committee for Expedited Permitting;26 l SO 3360: Rescinding Authorities Inconsistent with Secretary’s Order 3349, “American Energy Independence;”27 l SO 3380: Public Notice of the Costs Associated with Developing Department of the Interior Publications and Similar Documents;28 l SO 3385: Enforcement Priorities;29 and l SO 3389: Coordinating and Clarifying National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Reviews.30 Actions. At the same time, the new Administration must: l Reinstate quarterly onshore lease sales in all producing states according to the model of BLM’s IM 2018–034, with the slight adjustment of including expanded public notice and comment.31 The new Administration should work with Congress on legislation, such as the Lease Now Act32 and — 523 — Department of the Interior ONSHORE Act,33 to increase state participation and federal accountability for energy production on the federal estate. l Conduct offshore oil and natural gas lease sales to the maximum extent permitted under the 2023–2028 lease program,34 with the possibility to move forward under a previously studied but unselected plan alternative.35 l Develop immediately and finalize a new five-year plan, while working with Congress to reform the OCSLA by eliminating five-year plans in favor of rolling or quarterly lease sales. l Review all resource management plans finalized in the previous four years and, when necessary, select studied alternatives to restore the multi-use concept enshrined in FLPMA and to eliminate management decisions that advance the 30 by 30 agenda. l Set rents, royalty rates, and bonding requirements to no higher than what is required under the Inflation Reduction Act.36 l Comply with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to establish a competitive leasing and development program in the Coastal Plain, an area of Alaska that was set aside by Congress specifically for future oil and gas exploration and development. It is often referred to as the “Section 1002 Area” after the section of ANILCA that excludes the area from Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s wilderness designation.37 l Conclude the programmatic review of the coal leasing program, and work with the congressional delegations and governors of Wyoming and Montana to restart the program immediately.38 l Abandon withdrawals of lands from leasing in the Thompson Divide of the White River National Forest, Colorado; the 10-mile buffer around Chaco Cultural Historic National Park in New Mexico (restoring the compromise forged in the Arizona Wilderness Act39); and the Boundary Waters area in northern Minnesota if those withdrawals have not been completed.40 Meanwhile, revisit associated leases and permits for energy and mineral production in these areas in consultation with state elected officials. l Require regional offices to complete right-of-way and drilling permits within the average time it takes states in the region to complete them.
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.
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