"WASHINGTON — In a sign of a deepening rift among Democrats on energy issues, conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he will not move forward on President Joe Biden’s nominee to oversee oil and gas leasing at the Interior Department.

Manchin, of West Virginia, chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and has great influence on energy and environmental issues in the closely divided Senate. In an op-ed Friday, he cited a leaked memo signed by nominee Laura Daniel-Davis that proposed charging oil companies higher rates for drilling off the Alaska coast.

Manchin said the higher rates backed by Daniel-Davis for the proposed drilling project in Alaska’s Cook Inlet “were explicitly designed to decrease fossil energy production at the expense of our energy security."

Even though he had supported Daniel-Davis in the past, “I cannot, in good conscience, support her or anyone else who will play partisan politics and agree with this misguided and dangerous manipulation of the law," Manchin wrote in the Houston Chronicle."

Matthew Daly reports for the Associated Press March 10, 2023. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Manchin Threatens to Block More Biden Nominees as He Blasts White House" (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-10/manchin-theatens-more... [3]