“If allowed to stand unchallenged, this ruling will set a dangerous precedent. At a time when crude oil prices are breaking records nearly every day, oil companies should not be allowed to drill royalty-free on public lands. This lawsuit is a blatant attempt to rob the American people and the Department of Justice must fight it ,” said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of both the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources Committees, as well as chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

In the letter, the members urge the Department of Justice to “dedicate the highest-level personnel and the requisite resources to the appeal”, stating that Congress “never intended to restrict the Department of the Interior’s ability to issue deepwater leases that require the payment of royalties when the price of oil is high.”

Congress is currently considering two energy bills passed by the House and Senate that would reduce oil dependence and cut global warming pollution. The House bill contains language originally drafted by Rep. Markey which would recover an estimated $10 billion in unpaid royalties from faulty 1998-99 leases in the Gulf of Mexico. If signed into law, this language could also protect taxpayers from losing an additional $60 billion in oil royalties from the leases issued in1996, 1997 and 2000 even if the Kerr-McGee ruling were ultimately allowed to stand. This is because the bill sets a strong incentive for companies to either include price thresholds, pay a fee on oil production or be barred from purchasing new leases from the federal government.

“While the Department of Justice must immediately and vigorously appeal the Kerr-McGee ruling, the president must also drop his veto threat over the royalty recovery language in the House energy bill. This critical provision would not only recover the $10 billion in lost royalties from the 1998 and 1999 leases, but could also serve as a $60 billion insurance policy for the American people should Kerr-McGee ultimately prevail in its lawsuit,” said Rep. Markey. “Far from endangering the funding structure of this important energy independence legislation, the Kerr-McGee ruling only increases the urgency that it become law.”

The letter to Mr. Ronald J. Tenpas, Acting Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice was signed by Rep. Markey, as well as the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), the Democratic Caucus Chair, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), the chairman of the Interior Department Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) as well six other members.

The full letter is available here.