Today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a oversight field hearing in Steubenville, Ohio entitled, “Natural Gas--America’s New Energy Opportunity: Creating Jobs, Energy and Community Growth.” Members of the Committee heard testimony from witnesses expressing their desire for continued production of the abundant natural gas in the local Utica and Marcellus shale for job… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement today regarding President Obama’s energy speech: "American families and small businesses are once again suffering from rapidly rising gasoline prices and the Obama Administration’s policies are making it worse. Since President Obama took office, the price of gasoline has increased a… Read more »

The Obama Administration’s Bureau of Reclamation today announced that farmers in California’s San Joaquin Valley would initially receive an estimated 30 percent of their allocated water supplies for 2012. Despite experiencing near record precipitation last year, farmers and communities once again face the threat of another man-made drought due to federal regulations that will divert… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held an oversight hearing on, “Fish and Wildlife Service’s Proposed Comprehensive Conservation Plan and its Potential Devastating Impact on the Economy of the Town of Chincoteague, Virginia.” The Town of Chincoteague attracts approximately 1.4 million people annually because of the Island’s beautiful beaches,… Read more »

The House Natural Resources Committee today passed H.R. 1837, legislation to prevent future California man-made droughts with a bipartisan vote of 27 to 17. This comprehensive solution will bring jobs and water supply certainty to the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys in California and decrease reliance on foreign food sources. The Pelosi-led Congress did nothing for four years as… Read more »

The House Natural Resources Committee today passed H.R. 4019, the Federal Forest County Revenue, Schools and Jobs Act of 2012, by a vote of 26 to 17. The bill aims to restore economic stability in forested counties that lost valuable revenue used to support schools, infrastructure and emergency services when the timber industry sharply declined in the 1990s due to federal regulations and… Read more »

Today the Full House of Representatives passed H.R. 3408, with a bipartisan vote of 237-187. The legislation is a bipartisan plan to expand offshore energy production, open less than three percent of ANWR for oil and natural gas production, encourage the development of 1.5 trillion barrels of oil shale in the Rocky Mountain West, and approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The plan will create… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Indians and Alaska Native Affairs held a legislative hearing on H.R. 3973, the Native American Energy Act that promotes and encourages increased energy production on tribal lands by reducing government barriers and streamlining burdensome procedures. The Native American Energy Act addresses specific concerns from various Indian County leaders about getting… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today questioned Secretary Ken Salazar on the Interior Department’s lack of compliance with legitimate oversight requests from the Committee on actions and policies that directly impact American jobs and the economy. The Committee is investigating the Department’s rewrite of coal regulations and the White House’s editing of… Read more »

Today during a Full Committee hearing on the President’s FY 2013 budget, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar agreed that reforms to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) are needed to make it less lawsuit driven and admitted that he doesn’t currently know how much the Department spends on ESA-related litigation costs. The Natural Resources Committee held a Full Committee hearing last year… Read more »