July 07, 2020
Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Senate Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who lead the committees of jurisdiction over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), wrote to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross demanding that the Trump administration stop interfering with the Department of Commerce Inspector General's (IG) "Sharpiegate" investigation that was scheduled to be released last week.
The report evaluates the alleged political interference in NOAA's communica… Continue Reading
July 06, 2020
Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruling this morning that the Dakota Access Pipeline must be shut down and drained of oil by Aug. 5 and the announcement over the weekend that the owners of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have abandoned construction of the unpopular project prove the importance and beneficial impact of public scrutiny of the fossil fuel industry. Grijalva's Environmental Justice for All Act (H.R. 5986) would expand the … Continue Reading
July 03, 2020
Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today released the following statement on President Trump's planned event at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, which will include a fireworks display that had not been practiced for more than a decade due to concerns about wildfires and water contamination. According to the impact assessment that allowed the event to go forward, "All tribes consulted objected to the event and consider it to be an adverse effect to the traditional cultural property and traditio… Continue Reading
May 29, 2020
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A senior Trump administration official misused his office for private gain by capitalizing on his government connections to help get his son-in-law hired at the Environmental Protection Agency, investigators said in a report obtained by The Associated Press.
The Interior Department's Inspector General found that Assistant Interior Secretary Douglas Domenech reached out to a senior EPA official in person and later by email in 2017 to advocate for the son-in-law when he was… Continue Reading
April 30, 2020
Democratic committee leaders aren't waiting for formal rule changes to move online in the coronavirus-lockdown era.
The House Natural Resources Committee, led by Chairman Raul Grijalva, is sponsoring a series of Facebook livestreamed remote roundtables featuring Democratic members and handpicked witnesses, setting the stage for the lower chamber to follow suit.
"We're not [Energy and Commerce]. We're not Ways and Means. We're not the committees that are intimate in all the discussions that are… Continue Reading
March 27, 2020
U.S. territories, where health infrastructure is weaker than most mainland facilities and local governments are facing serious financial challenges, have already reported several COVID-19 fatalities and dozens of cases. Government officials and residents of the territories are justifiably worried that an inadequate federal pandemic response will lead to preventable loss of life on a scale that - because of recent disasters - they've unfortunately already seen in the recent past.
As leaders of t… Continue Reading
May 13, 2020
In April 2019, President Trump launched a public relations campaign designed to make Americans forget that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. He complained on Twitter that Puerto Ricans seeking disaster aid "only take from USA" and "hurt our farmers and states." His spokesman, Hogan Gidley, referred to Puerto Rico as "that country" not once but twice in a subsequent interview about what the president's initial comments meant.
None of this was accidental. On Trump's watch, in addit… Continue Reading
May 07, 2020
President Trump is using the worst pandemic in a century to weaken our environmental laws without public oversight, and he isn't sparing the Grand Canyon.
While Americans shelter at home, waiting for the administration to offer a more effective medical response than injecting bleach, an administration advisory group just released a report recommending opening more public lands to uranium extraction.
The steps recommended in a new report by the Nuclear Fuel Working Group, an industry-stacked pa… Continue Reading
October 30, 2019
This year is the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park. Even with former fossil fuel lobbyists in charge of Trump administration environmental policy, this should be a time to celebrate.
Instead, the administration is considering whether to open this internationally iconic landmark to new uranium mining claims. The president recently classified uranium as a "critical mineral," despite it not matching the definition of the term.
Opening protected land to the indus… Continue Reading
May 14, 2018
Last week Ranking Member Grijalva and Rep Lowenthal, the top Democrat on the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, introduced the Hardrock Leasing and Reclamation Act of 2018.
The Grijalva-Lowenthal bill requires hardrock mining operations to meet some of the same requirements and standards that already apply to oil, gas, and coal development on public lands. Among other measures, the bill would:
Eliminate the antiquated use of mining claims, and create a leasing system for hardrock mi… Continue Reading
May 08, 2018
Today marks the 230th day since our fellow Americans living in Puerto Rico lost power and were devastated by Hurricane Maria. Many people living on the island are still lacking power and still need assistance from the federal government. Instead of addressing the immediate needs of the people, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) traveled to Puerto Rico to promote oil and gas projects and discuss importing fossil fuels to the island. Bishop has continuously ignored the fact that renewable energy sources… Continue Reading
April 24, 2018
The House is voting on H.R. 3144 on Wednesday - also known as the Columbia River Salmon Extinction Act - which will drive the Pacific Northwest's salmon runs closer to extinction. Federal agencies have been ordered by the courts to develop a new salmon recovery plan to bring back dwindling salmon populations. H.R. 3144 attempts to mandate an outdated recovery plan that won't recover salmon and that has been deemed illegal by federal courts. Ranking Member Grijalva opposes the bill for the follow… Continue Reading
June 25, 2020
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April 19, 2019
See the report by the Government Accountablity Office here.… Continue Reading
October 31, 2018
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