I support increasing access to federal lands for purpose of natural gas discovery and extraction.
Crawford will support increasing access to federal lands for natural gas discovery and extraction.
Occurrences
Evidence
Crawford’s campaign issue page said he supported increasing access to federal lands for natural gas discovery and extraction, while maximizing production and minimizing environmental impacts.
A July 8, 2011 House hearing focused on a proposed ban on horizontal drilling on federal lands, and Crawford was listed among the committee members on the relevant House Agriculture subcommittee involved in the hearing.
Crawford said the reversal was 'a win for American energy' and called on FERC to 'work with energy producers to increase domestic production' and remove barriers for the energy sector.
Assessments
The promise was to support expanded access to federal lands for natural gas development, not necessarily to single-handedly secure a final statutory change. The record shows Crawford did that once in office: he was involved in a 2011 House venue addressing federal-land drilling restrictions, and he later continued publicly advocating fewer barriers and more domestic gas production. That is sufficient to count the pledge as fulfilled on its own terms, with evidence of support appearing during his first House term.
The promise was framed as supporting increased access to federal lands for natural gas discovery and extraction. Crawford did show same-term alignment with that position through involvement in a 2011 House venue addressing horizontal drilling restrictions on federal lands, and later public statements also favored fewer barriers to natural gas production. However, the evidence does not show that he wrote, sponsored, materially advanced, or secured passage of a federal policy that actually increased access to federal lands for natural gas extraction. This supports partial credit for advocacy and participation, not full delivery of the policy outcome.