On Wednesday, December 16, 2009 the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a markup on H.R. 2314, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009. This bill would recognize Native Hawaiians as a separate governing entity, providing them with the ability to transfer lands, negotiate with other government entities and set their own criminal and civil jurisdictions separate… Read more »

Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee today announced that they will hold a congressional forum on resolving the San Joaquin Valley water crisis in Fresno, California on Monday, January 25, 2010. Further details including time, location and meeting format will be announced in the upcoming weeks. “There is no time to waste on reversing the plight of the San Joaquin Valley,”… Read more »

The Obama Administration’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force is scheduled to soon release its final recommendations on national policy for the management of our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. These recommendations could significantly alter the economic and recreational use of our oceans and have a broad impact on activities ranging from fishing to offshore energy… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent a follow-up letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar seeking answers as to why the Department decided to terminate the profitable royalty in-kind (RIK) program for collecting oil and gas royalties. A recent Department of Interior report showed that the program generated over $106 million in benefits for the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after joining members of the American Energy Solution Group in a press conference to oppose the President’s job-killing energy policies and express concerns (see letter) with his upcoming trip to the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen: “Earlier this morning, President Obama… Read more »

Water and Power Subcommittee Ranking Member Tom McClintock (R-CA) released the following statement today regarding Subcommittee Chairwoman Grace Napolitano’s (D-CA) recent announcement to hold a Southern California field hearing on the state’s water crisis: “I welcome Chairwoman Napolitano’s public focus on the California water crisis. It is important that the Water and Power… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the Department of Labor’s November unemployment report: “Yesterday, we witnessed the White House ‘jobs summit’- a high profile event that unfortunately looked more like a shiny object meant to distract the American people from the Administration’s failed stimulus and… Read more »

The Department of the Interior just released the FY 2008 Royalty-In-Kind (RIK Report), which showed that the federal government made $106 million by taking oil and natural gas royalty in-kind. This report comes on the heels of Secretary Ken Salazar’s September announcement that the Department of the Interior would end the RIK program, despite five years of taxpayer benefits from this… Read more »

Tomorrow, President Obama will host a Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth at the White House where he promised he will “consider all good ideas to encourage and accelerate job creation.” However, it appears that the White House neglected to invite a wide range of officials from America’s all-of-the-above energy sectors to attend this event. Since a diverse group of American energy… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following floor speech on H.R. 2781, a bill to designate segments of the Molalla River in Oregon as components of the Wild and Scenic River Systems. As with all wild and scenic rivers, this designation could prevent full recreation use and economic development on this land, as well as potentially… Read more »