Today, House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent a letter to Joseph G. Pizarchik, Director of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) expressing concern that the Obama Administration is proposing sweeping new rewrites to coal mining regulations that will cost U.S. jobs and decrease American energy production.
According to the Administration’s own… Read more »
Dear Director Pizarchik,
Recent news reports have highlighted the significant job losses and economic impacts that could result from changes being considered by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to fifteen elements of its coal mining regulation program. According to an official document obtained by the Associated Press, the agency's preferred "Stream Protection Rule" could cost at least… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement today regarding Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s announcement of new offshore wind projects in the mid-Atlantic:
“Offshore wind is an important part of a robust all-of-the-above energy plan. However, it’s unwise for the Obama Administration to exclusively focus… Read more »
Read this recent interview in The Tribal Business Journal where Chairman Doc Hastings answers questions on the establishment of the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs and other important Indian and Native issues. The interview below is an excerpt from the Tribal Business Journal February 2011 issue:
Q:
In General. First,… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after Judge Martin Feldman yesterday found the Department of the Interior in contempt of court for continuing their moratorium on offshore drilling in the Gulf Coast.
“The federal judge’s initial ruling striking the offshore moratorium and his most recent decision to hold Interior in contempt… Read more »
Lawmakers: Egypt shows U.S. should start drilling
1/31/2011
Houston Chronicle
Jennifer Dlouhy
Civil unrest in Egypt and fears about a shutdown of oil shipments through the Suez Canal are stoking higher crude prices and calls in Congress for expanding domestic energy production.
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., the head of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the Egyptian turmoil is… Read more »
GOP lawmakers demand repeal of wilderness policy
January 31, 2011
E&E News
Phil Taylor
Nearly 60 Republican lawmakers, mostly from the West, on Friday asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to rescind a new policy that directs field managers to inventory and protect wilderness-quality lands, arguing that it would significantly affect rural economies.
In a letter from the Western… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) is leading a bipartisan, multi-state effort to protect farmers and foresters in Washington state and across the country whose livelihoods are threatened by new burdensome federal regulations.
Hastings, along with 17 Members of Congress, sent a letter to Chair of the Council of Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley asking her to… Read more »
Dear Chairwoman Sutley,
We write to express our concerns and request your immediate attention regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) flawed consultation process resulting in biological opinions (bi-ops) and regulations that will significantly restrict the use of critical crop… Read more »
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) delivered the following opening statement at today’s Full Committee Oversight hearing on the President’s National Oil Spill Commission findings and recommendations:
“It’s been nine months since the horrific explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that resulted in the death of 11 men and the burning and sinking of the… Read more »
