Today, in a Full Committee markup of the CLEAR Act (H.R. 3534), the House Natural Resources Committee voted in favor of a Republican amendment to establish a non-partisan, independent Congressionally approved National Commission on Outer Continental Shelf Oil Spill Prevention to study the events leading up to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The amendment, offered by Rep. Bill Cassidy… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at today’s Full Committee markup on H.R. 3534, The CLEAR Act: “When it comes to the Gulf oil spill, it couldn’t be clearer what the focus of Congress should be right now: making certain the well is permanently capped, the oil is cleaned up, BP is held… Read more »

The Consolidated Land Energy and Aquatic Resources Act (H.R. 3534) July 14, 2010 Full Committee Markup Reporting H.R. 3534 out of Committee (View Roll Call Vote) Although promoted as a bill to establish new laws and regulations in response to the Deepwater Horizon spill, The CLEAR Act includes numerous provisions that are unrelated to the spill response or reforms to offshore drilling.… Read more »

Note: “The really odd moment came when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement that he was looking to the commission for information that could inform the administration’s position on halting deepwater drilling. Salazar’s statement stunned the commission’s two co-chairmen, William K. Reilly and Bob Graham, who said they had been assured by Salazar’s office and the White House… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) today released the following statement after Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a new moratorium on offshore drilling: “The Obama Administration’s latest attempt to impose a moratorium on offshore drilling will only cause further harm to Gulf State economies. Too many jobs have already been lost… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at today’s Full Committee legislative hearing on the discussion draft of H.R. 3534, The CLEAR Act: “This hearing today should continue to focus on the crisis unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. At this very moment: the well is not capped and oil is still… Read more »

The Roughneck's Lament New York Times Rob Harris & Tom Zeller Jr. June 11, 2010 Click here to watch If President Obama's drilling moratorium lasts six months, many oil rigs will leave the Gulf of Mexico, probably for years, leaving workers in the local oil industry scared and frustrated. # # # Print version of this document Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings released the following statement regarding President Obama’s address to the nation on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: “There is an on-going crisis in the Gulf and the priorities of the Administration should be simple: stop the leak and cleanup the oil.  Such a devastating crisis shouldn’t be used as leverage to push a… Read more »

Drilling Bits of Fiction Seven experts say the White House distorted their views 6/10/2010 Wall Street Journal Editorial The Obama Administration is under political pressure to reverse its ill-considered deep water drilling moratorium, and the latest blowback comes from seven angry experts from the National Academy of Engineering who say their views were distorted to justify the… Read more »

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the May unemployment rate was 9.7%: “While any job growth is important during these difficult economic times, we need policies that will actually create permanent jobs and not just temporary, government positions.  The President’s… Read more »