WASHINGTON, D.C. - One of the first executive orders President Joe Biden signed last week canceled the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Now, some Pennsylvania lawmakers fear the new administration will target the commonwealth’s natural gas industry next.

Biden is expected to impose a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, starting Wednesday, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. It’s the latest action combating climate change by the new administration, one week after Biden nixed the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline expansion in the U.S.

“I think the Biden administration understands they need to be more aggressive, that their investments on climate change need to be bigger and bolder,” said Ari Drennen, associate director of communications for the Energy & Environment Team at the Center for American Progress.

But there is a fear growing in natural gas-producing states about what is to come. Each day, up to 10 percent of all natural gas produced in the U.S. comes from Pennsylvania Rep. Fred Keller’s district.

“It’s very concerning because there are a lot of good-paying jobs in the energy industry,” Keller said in an interview earlier this month. “It means affordable energy for working families, for everybody.”

The price of natural gas has dropped dramatically over the years, from a high of nearly $20 in Sept. 2005 to now just $2.49 in Jan. 2021.

At 20 percent, Pennsylvania’s annual natural gas production ranks second in the U.S. behind only Texas (23.9 percent), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Pennsylvania’s Republican Sen. Pat Toomey suggests the historically low cost of natural gas could rise due to Biden’s orders, meaning the cost could be passed onto the consumer.

“My concern is he will raise the regulatory cost to a point where it’s completely unaffordable to do that on private property,” Toomey said during an interview days after Biden won the November election.

Canceling the pipeline permit could cost thousands of union jobs, between construction of the pipeline and drilling itself.  It’s also worth noting that federal land drilling generated over $11 billion in tax revenue for states and tribal lands last year, according to the U.S. Interior Department.

But, industry experts, along with the Biden administration, argue the transition to renewable energy is needed now.

“We have just seven years to slow down our emissions in order to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement,” Drennan said referring to the international deal Biden pledged to rejoin as president.

It’s a political battle that is digging deeper between Congressional Republicans and the Biden administration just one week into the new term.