OP ED: Welders Make $150,000? Bring Back Shop Class Josh Mandel Wall Street Journal In American high schools, it is becoming increasingly hard to defend the vanishing of shop class from the curriculum. The trend began in the 1970s, when it became conventional wisdom that a four-year college degree was essential. As Forbes magazine reported in 2012, 90% of shop classes have been eliminated for the Los Angeles unified school district's 660,000 students. Yet a 2012 Bureau of Labor Statistics study shows that 48% of all college graduates are working in jobs that don't require a four-year degree. ... Read More »
Click on the 'Comment' link and post your question to the Secretary here. (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Post by House Committee on Natural Resources. Read More »
Wednesday, March 19th the Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight field hearing in Fresno, CA on "California Water Crisis and Its Impacts: The Need for Immediate and Long-Term Solutions." This field hearing is designed to focus on the need to resolve differences in order to bring immediate and long-term water supplies to the San Joaquin Valley and other parts of California. The lack of rainfall has exacerbated the man-made drought caused by federal regulations and environmental lawsuits. On January 17, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for California ... Read More »
Examiner Editorial: Fighting waste and fraud requires junkyard dogs, not pawns Washington Examiner March 13, 2014 When Congress and President Carter approved creation of the present inspector general program in 1978, the new officials were intended to be the front line of attack against waste and fraud in the federal government. Federal spending was just over $400 billion that year. Washington will spend nearly $4 trillion in 2014. Odds are good that there is as much or more waste and fraud in government today as there was in the entire federal budget in 1978. It's scary to think how much wor... Read More »
Domestic energy execs ask Congress for help in hiring vets, including changes to GI Bill By Fox News 2/26/14 U.S. energy executives asked Congress on Wednesday to consider reworking the GI Bill and to take other steps to better connect the legions of job-seeking military veterans with tens of thousands of high-paying jobs in their industry. The executives told a House subcommittee that the number of jobs in the country’s oil, natural gas and solar industries has increased by as much as 40 percent since the recent recession -- creating scores of high-paying jobs for which veterans are qualified... Read More »
This week the House will consider H.R. 3964, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act, introduced by the Republican California delegation, addresses the emergency drought in California by restoring some water supplies San Joaquin Valley Farmers. The lack of rainfall has exacerbated the man-made drought caused by federal regulations and environmental lawsuits. On January 17, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for California due to the drought. For more information on H.R. 3964, click here. Read More »
America can count on reliable and affordable electricity from coal for the foreseeable future. This will only happen if the Obama Administration stops its constant attacks on this abundant resource. In 2013, coal provided America with 40% of America’s electricity while providing countless direct and indirect jobs. Many communities around the country rely upon coal for their livelihoods. Needless to say, coal is an important part of America’s energy portfolio and an all of the above energy policy, that includes coal, is key to making sure the lights always stay on across America. Take a look at... Read More »
A new study released today shows that increasing America’s offshore energy production in the mid and south Atlantic will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and drastically grow America’s economy. “Today’s study further confirms that increased offshore energy production will create American jobs, spur economic growth, lower energy prices, and bring in much-needed tax revenue to local and state governments as well as the federal government,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings. “Unfortunately the Obama Administration continues to actively deny these benefits by bl... Read More »
Shale oil and natural gas activity contributed over 1.7 million jobs in 2012 and will increase by over 45% to almost 2.5 million jobs in 2015. 500,000 non-oil and natural gas manufacturing jobs are supported by shale oil and natural gas. The Obama Administration's proposed federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing would cost American jobs, decrease American energy production, increase energy prices, and harm economic growth. Learn more about the bill here. Read More »
