House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Bishop (UT-01) will introduce a Resolution of Inquiry today that is aimed at requiring the Secretary of the Interior to turn over to the House of Representatives specific information related to potential National Monument designations. … Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) along with all of his Republican colleagues on the Committee today sent a letter to Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall requesting a Full Committee hearing on President Obama’s offshore drilling announcement from March 31. The President’s plan will lock up a majority of the Outer Continental Shelf from oil… Read more »

Today, the House Subcommittees on National Parks, Forest and Public Lands and Water and Power held a joint field hearing at the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The hearing, entitled "On the Edge: Challenges Facing Grand Canyon National Park" is the latest attempt to drive up energy prices and re-allocate more water towards a small endangered fish at the expense of water and power consumers and the… Read more »

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 »