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The Offshore Energy Economy President Obama Doesn’t Want: Increased Offshore Energy Production = More Jobs, Bigger Economy, Lower Prices

| Posted in Resourceful Information

Ever since taking office, President Obama has erected barriers to increased offshore American energy production and systematically closed off new areas to drilling. Study after study has shown that increased offshore energy production will create jobs, grow the economy, lower prices and provide significant revenues to the states and federal government. As the chart (below) shows, under…

Chairman Hastings Letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Regarding the Investigations and Review Unit

| Posted in Letters

Dear Secretary Salazar: The Department of the Interior ("Department") established the Investigations and Review Unit ("IRU") in 2010, reportedly to respond to allegations of wrongdoing and unethical behavior by the offshore oil and gas industry and the Department officials who regulate those activities and to help coordinate the Department's response to significant…

Chairman Hastings Letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Regarding the Administration's Policies and Practices of Scientific Integrity

| Posted in Letters

Dear Mr. Secretary: At the beginning of this Administration, President Obama placed significant emphasis on the importance of scientific integrity in his Administration's policies and practices. In the President's March 9, 2009 Memorandum tor the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, he stated that "[t]he public must be able to trust the science and scientific…

Chairman Hastings Renews Request for Information from Secretary Chu on Memo that Could Increase Electricity Rates on 40 Million Americans

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today followed up on his previous request to Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu for detailed documents and communications related to the issuance of Chu’s March 16, 2012, Memorandum (Memorandum) to the Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs). Last Congress, the Natural Resources Committee held multiple hearings on the…

Chairman Hastings Statement on FWS Extension of Public Comment for Lesser Prairie Chicken ESA Designation

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today released the following statement after receiving a partial response from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe to his February 7th request for an extended public comment period for Lesser Prairie Chicken designation under the Endangered Species Act and to approve state and local plans to protect the Lesser…

Chairman Hastings Statement on the Violence Against Women Act

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): “During my service in Congress representing Central Washington, I have always voted to renew the Violence Against Women Act. As a husband, a father, and a grandfather, I strongly believe that providing protection for all women against domestic…

U.S. Dependence on Middle East Oil Increases Under President Obama While Federal Oil and Natural Gas Production Decline

| Posted in Hot Air Alert

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) yesterday released disturbing new data that shows the United States has been increasing its dependence on oil from one of the most unstable regions in the world. Middle Eastern oil now accounts for more than 25 percent of American oil imports—a nine year high that has come at the same time as record gasoline prices. No wonder gasoline…

Chairman Hastings Letter to Energy Secretary Chu Regarding the Memorandum to the Power Marketing Administration

| Posted in Letters

Dear Secretary Chu: As you know, the House Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") is conducting oversight on issues surrounding your March 16, 2012 Memorandum ("Memorandum") to the Power Marketing Administrations. In an October 11, 2012 letter the Department of Energy ("Department") was asked to produce several categories of documents and communications related to the issuance…

State Forests Management Superior to Federal Forests for Job Creation, Revenue Production, Local Economies and Fire Prevention

| Posted in Press Release

Today the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation held a hearing examining, “State Forest Management: A Model for Promoting Healthy Forests, Rural Schools and Jobs.” The hearing was an opportunity to hear from state leaders, local land managers and timber experts on the inadequacies and burdens of current federal forest management practices that have contributed to…

Amid Renewed Lawsuits, Chairman Hastings Calls on Obama Administration to Answer Questions on Job Destroying Coal Regulation

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to follow up on a more than two and a half year investigation into the Obama Administration’s decision to throw out the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone coal regulation, and write a new regulation that could destroy up to 7,000 coal mining jobs and cause economic…