One year later, GOP pushes federal leasing plans 10/2/2009 Ben Geman, E&E News Republicans and oil industry groups are using the one year mark of last year's offshore drilling ban expiration to push for wider leasing in federal waters, alleging the Obama administration is delaying access to potentially large U.S. reserves. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the ranking member of the… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the Department of Labor’s report that the U.S. economy lost nearly 263,000 jobs in September, raising the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent: “Unemployment in parts of the U.S. energy sector, including in the mining, oil and gas industries, has soared to double digits.1 … Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Ranking Member Doc Hastings joined the entire Utah Congressional delegation in opposing the America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2009 (H.R. 1925) – a bill that would lock up 9.5 million acres of land in Utah and block energy development, job creation and public land access.  Of the 146 cosponsors of the bill, not a single one is from the state of… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) and Ranking Member Doc Hastings (R-WA) today introduced bipartisan legislation to provide an extended time frame to complete the construction of an underground visitor and education center near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Memorial) on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. “The black granite that comprises the Vietnam… Read more »

“But, in light of the recent news that Iran has constructed a second nuclear facility, it’s critical that the Administration also view its current energy policy through the prism of national security…When our country has its own rich oil and natural gas resources, we should not have to even think about unpredictable threats from mad men, tyrants and dictators who control access to a… Read more »

Of the 136 cosponsors, not a single one is from Utah On Thursday, October 1, 2009, the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee will hold a hearing on  America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2009 (H.R. 1925), a bill to establish 9.5 million acres of wilderness land in Utah.  This is the latest attempt by Democrats (NREPA, Omnibus Public Lands Act) to lock up… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement today regarding the National Energy Tax legislation introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA): “Since the House passed the National Energy Tax bill in June and sent it to the Senate, America’s unemployment rate has risen from 9.4 percent to 9.7… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) issued the following statement today regarding the announcement of a draft Klamath dam removal agreement that could potentially cost $450 million: “Congress needs to ask some real hard questions on why federal taxpayers should be footing any of the bill to tear out dams owned by a private corporation.  Paying for this… Read more »

On September 23rd, Austan Goolsbee, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers and Chief Economist for the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, told the Washington Post: “It’s a tough spot to be an economic adviser now, because every time you see the president and chief of staff, their thing is kind of ‘What have you done today to create jobs?” This week, House Republicans… Read more »

Will The Obama Administration’s Hypocrisy on Energy Policy Extend to OCS Drilling? By Rep. Doc Hastings Clean Skies September 21, 2009 On issue after issue, the Obama Administration has quickly earned a reputation of saying one thing, but doing another. Some of the most glaring examples of the Administration’s hypocrisy can be found in the development of its so-called “comprehensive”… Read more »