Today, the House Natural Resources Committee held a Full Committee oversight field hearing in Panama City, Florida entitled, “Fishing = Jobs: How Strengthening America’s Fisheries Strengthens Our Economy.” Florida’s fishing industry contributes billions of dollars in fishing–related expenditures each year and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. The hearing today focused on the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today released the following statement regarding Governor Mitt Romney’s comprehensive, true all-of-the-above energy plan to create millions of new jobs with American energy resources. “For the last three and half years out-of-work Americans have been ignored, consumers have seen gasoline prices skyrocket and the American… Read more »

AAA announced today that the national average price of gasoline reached $3.72 per gallon– the highest price on record for August 20th and a 12 percent increase since July 1st. Unfortunately, gasoline prices aren’t the only thing increasing, so is our Nation’s dependence on foreign oil. The New York Times recently reported that: “The United States is increasing its dependence on oil… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to the co-chairs of President Obama’s National Ocean Council to repeat his request that the Obama Administration answer outstanding questions and document requests regarding President Obama’s National Ocean Policy and mandatory ocean zoning initiative before finalizing the draft implementation plan. Click… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative field hearing in Pasco, WA on H.R. 6247, the Saving Our Dams and Hydropower Development and Jobs Act of 2012. Introduced by Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04), the bill would protect America’s dams and promote new clean, low-cost hydropower to help create jobs and grow the economy. Hydropower accounts for 70 percent of electricity… Read more »

Just before the August District Work Period, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6082, a bill to replace President Obama’s no-new-jobs, no-new-drilling plan with a robust plan that offers lease sales in specific areas known to contain the most oil and natural gas resources, to create tens of thousands of new American jobs and increase American energy production. This bipartisan vote… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced unemployment rose to 8.3% after disappointing July job growth. “Today’s jobs numbers are yet another disappointment for the millions of Americans who have been struggling to find a job in President Obama’s economy. While President Obama doesn’t… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today introduced H.R. 6247, the Saving Our Dams and New Hydropower Development and Jobs Act. The bill protects and promotes hydropower resources by ending practices that diminish existing hydropower, cutting regulatory red-tape, generating new non-federal funding for new projects and improving transparency. Hydropower is a… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 6089, the Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2012, with a bipartisan vote of 28-19. Introduced by Colorado Members Scott Tipton, Doug Lamborn, Mike Coffman, and Cory Gardner, the bill would reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, address factors that contribute to insect infestation, and restore forest… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved a motion with a 26-17 vote to provide the Chairman with authority to issue subpoenas to five Obama Administration officials and potentially others who have direct knowledge or involvement in the drafting, editing or review of the Department of the Interior Drilling Moratorium Report that was edited to appear as though the moratorium… Read more »