House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today issued the first subpoena to the Department of the Interior for documents related to a more than year-long investigation into why an Obama Administration report that recommended a six-month drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico was edited to make it appear as though the moratorium was supported by a panel of… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent a letter yesterday to Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (KY-05) asking that each appropriations bill include language to prohibit the use of funds for the implementation of President Obama’s ocean zoning and National Ocean Policy. “The Natural Resources Committee has undertaken oversight over this… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today received notice from the Obama Administration that they will not agree to his request for a 90-day extension of the public comment period on the draft National Ocean Policy Implementation plan. “President Obama issued an Executive Order imposing a new bureaucracy to zone the oceans that threatens to deter new economic… Read more »

Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved a motion (23-17) to provide the Chairman with authority to issue subpoenas related to two ongoing oversight investigations: 1) regarding the Secretary of the Interior’s decision and the process to rewrite a coal production regulation; and 2) regarding a Department of the Interior report that implied that peer reviewers from the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding reports that the Obama Administration will today announce plans for seismic studies for possible future drilling lease sales off Virginia and the Atlantic Coast. President Obama is responsible for delaying and then outright canceling the Virginia lease sale that was scheduled to take… Read more »

With gasoline prices reaching record highs and the economy still recovering, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings today called on the Obama Administration to uphold their promises of transparency and turn over documents related to two issues that directly impact American jobs and energy production. The Committee today is holding a business meeting to consider a motion… Read more »

Today the House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing to examine the impact high gasoline prices have on job creation and economic growth in America’s tourism and travel industry, which last year supported 14 million U.S. jobs. “According to the Wall St Journal, every dollar increase in gas prices means $2.6 billion a week must be diverted toward the gas pump and away… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today released the following statement after a federal judge ruled that President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency’s unprecedented move last year to retroactively revoke an Army Corps of Engineers permit for a coal mine in West Virginia “exceeded its authority under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act.” The court… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today announced a Full Committee meeting for Wednesday, March 28th at 10:00 a.m. to consider a motion to authorize the Chairman to issue subpoenas for the production of documents relating to two long-running oversight investigations. The investigations relate to the Obama Administration’s rewrite of a coal production… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held an oversight hearing on “Empty Hooks: The National Ocean Policy is the Latest Threat to Access for Recreational and Commercial Fishermen.” Representatives from the charter, commercial and recreational fishing industries testified on the implications of President Obama’s National Ocean Policy. Established by… Read more »