Pence rolls out energy plan with goal to make US top energy producer by 2040

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday outlined his energy policy plan with the goal to overtake China as the world's top energy producer by 2040.

The Republican presidential candidate's energy proposal includes allowing new drilling on federal lands, cutting permitting time in half, removing restrictions on natural gas production and replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. His plan also includes lifting regulations that prohibit year-round access to E-15 ethanol blends, which is usually banned in the summer because it creates smog.

"What's new and bold in the Pence energy plan, is I think the time has come for a vision for the United States of America to reclaim our status as the world's number one energy producer, we can do it. We can reclaim American energy leadership on the world stage. Our nation will be more prosperous and more secure as a result," Pence told reporters on a call from his campaign headquarters in Indiana.

Pence said he would stop the "illegal assault on energy" by shutting down the Justice Department's Office of Environmental Policy, whose mission is to protect underserved communities from harm caused by environmental crimes, pollution and climate change.

"All of that, I truly believe, will not just restore American energy independence but will put us on a path of American energy supremacy," he said.

He argued that President Joe Biden's and Democrats' energy policy is "based on the deception that fossil fuels are not part of the world's energy future."

"I mean, Joe Biden, when he was campaigning for president pledged to quote, 'end fossil fuels,' and he's been working to do that since the day he first took office," Pence said.