News List

Utah Governor Herbert Emphasizes Success of Western States in Land Management
Press Release
May 21, 2013 - Today, the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation held an oversight hearing featuring testimony by Utah Governor Gary Herbert, Chairman of the Western Governors’ Association. The hearing highlighted the challenges of western states regarding federal and state land management. At the hearing, Members ... More

Spoiler Alert: Increased American Energy Production Helps Ease High Gasoline Prices
Resourceful Information
Apr 15, 2013 - According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gasoline prices will average $3.63 a gallon this summer, six cents lower from last year’s summer driving season. One of the reasons behind this drop in gasoline prices is the recent increase in U.S. oil production – specifically on state and private lands in plac... More

Full Committee to Hold Oversight Hearing Examining Energy Production on Federal Lands vs. State and Private Lands
Committee Action
Apr 9, 2013 - The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a Full Committee oversight hearing on Wednesday, April 17th to examine the difference in energy production and permitting on federal lands versus state and private lands. While energy production on state and federal lands is flourishing, regulatory red tape and bureaucrat... More

Chairman Hastings Unveils Draft Proposal to Restore Active Forest Management and Help Rural Schools & Counties
Press Release
Apr 3, 2013 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today unveiled a draft proposal to address the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. The draft proposal, Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act, renews the federal government’s commitment to manage forest resources for the be... More

Chairman Hastings Disappointed in Lack of Transparency at DOI, Renews Request for Info on Job Destroying Coal Regulation
Press Release
Mar 27, 2013 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar expressing disappointment at the Department’s lack of transparency and failure to respond to the Committee’s legitimate oversight questions surrounding OSM’s bizarre decision to rewrit... More

Documents Requested on Whether Interior Department and Inspector General are Actively Pursuing Ethics Investigations
Press Release
Mar 14, 2013 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar seeking further information on the operations and activities of the Department’s Ethics Office. For the past year, the Committee has conducted oversight of how political appointees and... More

Chairman Hastings Letter to Secretary Salazar Requesting Additional Documents Regarding the Interior Department's Ethics Office Investigations
Letters
Mar 14, 2013 - Dear Secretary Salazar: It is paramount that the American people have confidence that the Department of the Interior (“Department”) officials who manage federal lands and resources on their behalf are acting with the highest of ethical standards. Since last year, the Committee on Natural Resources (“Committee”) has bee... More

Houston Chronicle: Offshore unit draws lawmaker's scrutiny
In Case You Missed It
Mar 12, 2013 - Offshore unit draws lawmaker's scrutiny By Jennifer A. Dlouhy March 11, 2013 A top congressional Republican wants to know more about a new Interior Department team dedicated to rooting out wrongdoing by companies drilling offshore and the government officials who police them. The man behind the push, Rep. Doc Hastings... More

Wall Street Journal Editorial: Fishing for Wildlife Lawsuits
Blog
Mar 11, 2013 - "The Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service has resurrected a Clinton-era tactic known as 'sue and settle.' With this strategy, outside green groups friendly to the Administration sue the government, demanding a particular regulatory action. The agency happily forswears court and sits down with the plaintiffs ... More

Letter from Chairman Hastings to Secretary Chu Regarding the Memorandum to the Power Marketing Administration
Letters
Feb 28, 2013 - As you know, the House Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") is conducting oversight on issues surrounding your March 16, 2012 Memorandum ("Memorandum") to the Power Marketing Administrations. In an October 11, 2012 letter the Department of Energy ("Department") was asked to produce several categories of docume... More

Amid Renewed Lawsuits, Chairman Hastings Calls on Obama Administration to Answer Questions on Job Destroying Coal Regulation
Press Release
Feb 22, 2013 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to follow up on a more than two and a half year investigation into the Obama Administration’s decision to throw out the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone coal regulation, and write a new regulat... More

Chairman Hastings' Letter to Secretary Salazar Regarding the Stream Buffer Zone Rule Rewrite
Letters
Feb 22, 2013 - Two years ago you received the first in a series of letters asking for information and documents that would explain the deeply concerning decisions made by the Department and the Office of Surface Mining ("OSM") over the last few years related to the decision to discard nearly 5 years of rulemaking and begin a rewrite ... More

Chairman Hastings Calls for President Obama to Appoint Permanent Inspector General for the Department of the Interior
Press Release
Feb 21, 2013 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today wrote to President Obama requesting that he nominate a permanent Inspector General for the Department of the Interior. Since the Department’s previous Inspector General Earl Devaney was appointed to a new position nearly four years ago, the Departmen... More

Hastings Selected as Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee
Press Release
Nov 28, 2012 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Republican Conference selected him to serve as Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee in the 113th Congress: “I’m honored to have been selected by my Republican Colleagues to continue to serve as Chairman of ... More

OVERSIGHT: Documents Sought from White House on Decision to Impose Offshore Drilling Moratorium in Gulf
Press Release
Oct 17, 2012 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings today sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff Jacob Lew requesting documents and interviews regarding White House officials’ role in the late-night editing of the Interior Department’s Drilling Moratorium Report to make it appear as though the moratorium in th... More

President Obama Confused Between Correlation and Causation of American Energy Production
Press Release
Oct 17, 2012 - “Correlation does not imply causation” is certainly a rule President Obama learned while earning his law degree but something he has all but forgotten when it comes to his Administration’s dismal, job destroying energy policies. President Obama’s failed energy policies might correlate with America’s increase of oil and... More

Chairman Hastings Letter to White House Chief of Staff Jacob Lew Requesting Documents on the Imposition of an Offshore Drilling Moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico
Letters
Oct 17, 2012 - Dear Mr. Lew: Upon taking office, President Obama issued a memorandum to Department and Agency heads entitled “Scientific Integrity” that stated: “The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions. Political officials should not suppress or alter scientific or technol... More

Documents Sought from Obama Administration Regarding Chu Memo that Could Raise Energy Prices on 40 Million Americans
Press Release
Oct 11, 2012 - As part of the House Natural Resources Committee’s ongoing oversight of Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu’s March 16, 2012 Memorandum (Memo) to the Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs), Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Secretary Chu requesting specific documents and communi... More

Chairman Hastings Letter to Secretary Chu Requesting Additional Information on the March 16, 2012 Memorandum to the Power Marketing Administrations
Letters
Oct 11, 2012 - Dear Secretary Chu: The Committee on Natural Resources (“Committee”) is conducting oversight on issues surrounding your March 16, 2012 Memorandum to the Power Marketing Administrations (“PMAs”). After two full Committee hearings and a number of congressional letters of concern, it is abundantly clear that there are man... More

Bipartisan House Tells President Obama to Stop the War on Coal
Press Release
Sep 21, 2012 - Today, the House of Representatives, by a bipartisan vote of 233-175 approved H.R. 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act, a package of five bills that will help end the Obama Administration’s war on coal that threatens thousands of American jobs and could increase the price of energy on millions of American families and s... More

Chairman Hastings: President Obama's War on Coal is Real
Floor Statements
Sep 20, 2012 - House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement on the House floor today in support of H.R. 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act: “Mr. Chairman, In his 2008 campaign, President Obama plainly declared the policies he supports would bankrupt American coal production... More

Committee Releases Report on Obama Administration's Job-Destroying Rewrite of Coal Production Regulation
Press Release
Sep 20, 2012 - The House Natural Resources Committee today released a report detailing information uncovered in its more than 18-month ongoing investigation into the Obama Administration’s rewrite of a coal production regulation, the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule. The report, entitled “President Obama's Covert and Unorthodox Efforts t... More

President Obama's Covert and Unorthodox Efforts to Impose New Regulation on Coal Mining and Destroy American Jobs
Staff Reports
Sep 20, 2012 - President Obama's Covert and Unorthodox Efforts to Impose New Regulation on Coal Mining and Destroy American Jobs More

Rep. Bill Johnson Discusses President Obama's War on Coal on FOX Business
Blog
Sep 19, 2012 - Congressman Bill Johnson (OH-06) joined the show “Money” with Melissa Francis on Fox Business to discuss what House Republicans are doing to fight President Obama’s War on Coal. This week the House will consider H.R. 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act, a package of bills to protect thousands of American jobs and U.S. e... More

House to Consider Stop the War on Coal Act Next Week
Press Release
Sep 13, 2012 - Next week, the House of Representatives will consider the Stop the War on Coal Act of 2012, a package of five bills that will help end the Obama Administration’s war on coal that threatens thousands of American jobs and could increase the price of energy on millions of American families and small businesses. Included i... More

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