Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requesting that, in light of this year’s low water supplies, endangered juvenile salmon should be transported past dams rather than flushed downstream by… Read more »

Click to enlarge Background: President Obama’s new OCS plan locks up 360 million acres, or 60 percent of the OCS previously under moratoria. According to an April 2, 2010 Rasmussen poll, 72 percent of Americans are in favor of new offshore drilling, while 59 percent say offshore drilling should be permitted off the coasts of California and the New England states—areas… Read more »

House Natural Resource Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the tragic mining accident at the Upper Big Branch mine in Whitesville, West Virginia: “My deepest condolences go out to the families who have lost loved ones in this terrible accident and we will continue to pray for survivors. I would also like to offer my support to all the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after a new Rasmussen poll shows 72 percent of Americans support offshore drilling. “With a new poll showing 72 percent support for offshore drilling, it’s clear that President Obama's new plan to lockup the vast majority of the Outer Continental Shelf from future energy production is… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Department of Labor announced the economy gained 162,000 jobs in March as unemployment remained at 9.7 percent. “Considering our current economy, we should welcome any job growth that we can get. However, we should not confuse temporary jobs, such as 48,000 jobs accounted for… Read more »

House Natural Resource Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after learning of the out of court settlement agreed to by the Bureau of Land Management regarding the use of “categorical exclusions” for new oil and gas leases as defined by Section 390 in the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005. Hastings had previously sent a letter to the Interior… Read more »

Although President Obama today announced what he called the “expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration,” in reality the President LOCKED UP more land to American energy production - as shown on the maps below. Click to enlarge map Under the Presidential and Congressional Moratoria in place from 1981 through September 2008, all of the Atlantic and the majority of the Pacific… Read more »

Following is a statement from Congressman Doc Hastings (WA-04) on the Snake River dam removal “study plan” prepared and released today by Army Corps of Engineers at the direction of the Obama Administration. Hastings is an outspoken defender of the Northwest’s hydropower dams as clean, renewable sources of low-cost energy. Hastings serves as the top Republican on the House Natural… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding President Obama’s announcement that his Administration will delay a new offshore drilling plan until 2012 and include only a fraction of offshore land that was available under the 2010-2015 lease plan: “With this announcement, the Obama Administration is attempting to pull the… Read more »

Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04), House Republican Leader John Boehner, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor and 85 other Republicans sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar demanding that the Administration begin to implement the 2010-2015 five-year lease plan for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This plan would open, for the first… Read more »