GOP lawmakers criticize Biden admin's price hike on public oil and gas drilling leases

Republican politicians are criticizing the Biden administration's decision to increase royalty rates for oil and gas leases on federal land.

The Department of the Interior on Friday issued the long-awaited report, order by President Biden when he first took office when he paused leases to oil and gas contracts on federal lands citing concerns about climate change.

"Amid surging energy prices, the Biden Administration proposes increasing the cost of energy production even further," Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., said in a Friday tweet. "This administration is exacerbating the problem, at the expense of American families, all to advance their radical green agenda."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, condemned the order as an "ISANE escalation of the Biden administration's war on American energy" in a Friday tweet.

"At a time when supply chains are breaking down and inflation is skyrocketing, Biden is indulging in fringe green ideology that will increase energy prices and put all goods further out of reach," he wrote.

INTERIOR CALLS FOR HIKING RATES ON OIL AND GAS COMPANIES TO DRILL ON FEDERAL LANDS

Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., said the move puts the U.S. at a "grave national security risk."

"Delusional @POTUS and his Anti-American administration have put this nation at grave security risk by forcing us to be energy dependent. Our oil reserves are for EMERGENCIES not approval ratings," he said in a Friday tweet.

The Interior Department's report called for raising royalty rates for such leases on public lands — which the agency noted have not been raised in 100 years — but stopped short of recommending an end to them completely as environmental activists have demanded.

A Friday press release from Interior said the report found "significant shortcomings in oil and gas leasing program," and called for "significant reforms that should be made to ensure the programs provide a fair return to taxpayers, discourage speculation, hold operators responsible for remediation, and more fully include communities and Tribal, state, and local governments in decision-making."

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"Our nation faces a profound climate crisis that is impacting every American," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. "The Interior Department has an obligation to responsibly manage our public lands and waters – providing a fair return to the taxpayer and mitigating worsening climate impacts – while staying steadfast in the pursuit of environmental justice."

The Interior Department also wants to see a hike in bonding rates for companies engaged in the contracts, arguing that the levels have not been raised for 50 years.

Meanwhile, climate change activists are furious over the report, saying the recommendations don't go far enough and slamming Biden for not keeping a campaign promise to end new oil and gas leases on federal lands entirely.

The increase on rates for oil and gas leases came after President Biden announced on Tuesday that he will "make available releases of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gas and oil prices for Americans," which also received criticism, with some Republican politicians saying the move makes the U.S. more dependent on foreign oil as the U.S. moves away from its own oil production under Biden in his administration's efforts to combat climate change.

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House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said the decision to make tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, on top of the president's earlier orders to cancel construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and waive sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream II pipeline, puts "America last."

"Dear Mr. President: Let us produce our own energy and create jobs right here at home. Stop putting America last," he said.

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The Labor Department reported earlier this month that the consumer price index (CPI) climbed 6.2% year over year in October. The increase marked the largest annual gain since November 1990. Prices rose 0.9% month over month. 

Energy prices jumped 4.8% last month, and were up 30% over the past year. The October increase was largely the result of a 6.1% rise in the cost of gasoline. 

FOX Business' Breck Dumas and Jonathan Garber contributed to this report.