{"id":1841224,"date":"2023-02-09T13:05:31","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T18:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1841224"},"modified":"2023-02-09T13:08:28","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T18:08:28","slug":"gop-led-house-panels-shift-gears-goes-full-throttle-for-domestic-energy-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-led-house-panels-shift-gears-goes-full-throttle-for-domestic-energy-production\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP-Led House Panels Shift Gears, Goes Full Throttle for Domestic Energy Production"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-led-house-panels-shift-gears-goes-full-throttle-for-domestic-energy-production%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1841224&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<p>It is a common practice for committees to set out their goals for the next two-years, particularly if a chamber has been under new management.<\/p>\n<p>With Republicans assuming control of the United States House of Representatives following November\u2019s midterm elections, the newly installed GOP leadership has been doing just that across the chamber\u2019s 20 standing permanent committees and their 104 subcommittees and select temporary panels.<\/p>\n<p>This week, the transitional shift-change was evident in seminal sessions of the 52-member House Energy and Commerce Committee and six subcommittees as well as in the 45 member House Natural Resources Committee and five subsidiary panels.<\/p>\n<p>Four years under Democratic control, climate change and environmental protection have been a major concern. \u201cgreen\u201d The primary policy drivers behind legislation that sought to reduce dependence on oil and other gas were energy development, which included the $740 billion Infrastructure Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), both worth $1.2 trillion.<\/p>\n<p>Two days of almost eight hours of hearings were held before the House Energy and Commerce Committee (February 7), and the full House Natural Resource Committee (February 8). Republicans stated that many of the initiatives adopted by the Biden administration to promote electric vehicles, carbon capture and green energy are still on the block.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4363040\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/03\/25\/EV-Charging-ii-_JF_03252022-1200x782.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy  wp-image-4363040\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/EV-Charging-ii-_JF_03252022-600x391-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"757\" height=\"493\"   style=\"display:none\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4363040\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/EV-Charging-ii-_JF_03252022-600x391-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"757\" height=\"493\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> An EVGo station to charge electric vehicles in Irvine (Calif.) on March 25, 2022. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times).<\/figure>\n<h2>Energy Panel Plans a New Course<\/h2>\n<p>Six witnesses testified during the nearly six-hour House Energy and Commerce Committee meeting on a raft 17 Republican-sponsored bills. Proponents claim these bills are crucial to their success. \u201crestoring American energy dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among the proposed measures that will dominate the committee\u2019s and its subsidiary panels\u2019 agendas in the coming months are bills prohibiting restrictions on hydraulic fracking without Congressional approval; expanding natural gas exports; repealing the IRA\u2019s Green House Reduction Fund; and amending the Clean Air, Toxic Substances Control, Solid Waste Disposal, and National Gas Tax acts.<\/p>\n<p>Within the tranche of proposed legislation on the committee\u2019s \u201cunleashing American energy agenda,\u201d There are bills that call for reforming the permitting process and promoting the development of \u201ccritical minerals,\u201d Interdiction of Russian Uranium Import<\/p>\n<p>Republicans made the following argument when they opened the hearing for the day: \u201cunleashing American energy, lowering energy costs, and strengthening supply chains\u201d If the United States wants to remain economically competitive in the 21st Century and beyond, it must make this a priority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerica has been blessed with an abundance of natural resources. We should be working towards developing a predictable regulatory landscape across-the-board that inspires innovation, entrepreneurship, and technological leadership, hydropower, nuclear, fossil energies, wind, solar, and batteries,\u201d Rep. Cathy Rodgers, R-Wash., was the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She opened proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>A nation needs an \u201call-of-the-above\u201d energy strategy, she and others insisted, claiming the Biden administration\u2019s pro-green agenda is promoting technologies that either aren\u2019t feasible or don\u2019t have the domestic raw materials and processing capacity to now sustain.<\/p>\n<p>They point out that electric vehicles (EVs), which require more than 80 percent lithium to produce them and are being promoted in China, are a case in point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRush-to-green energy policies\u2014both state and federal\u2014have curtailed reliable energy and infrastructure, resulting in everything from blackouts to spiking prices,\u201d Rodgers said. \u201cThese policies are unsustainable and lead to greater reliance on countries like Russia, or in our case, China. This is not a future any of us want.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4662815\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/08\/13\/Coal-1-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy  wp-image-4662815\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Coal-1-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"765\" height=\"510\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4662815\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Coal-1-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"765\" height=\"510\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> On August 26, 2019, coal is loaded onto a truck in a mine near Cumberland (Ky.). (Scott Olson\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Democrats outnumbered by 29-23 in the panel said that panel Republicans were working for industry interests rather than the American people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need our energy policy to have vision and that vision should not be solely about how to further enrich oil and gas companies, which are already raking in record profits,\u201d Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., stated that he had been informed by Tonko about the situation. \u201cstrongly supports\u201d reviewing and upgrading the nation\u2019s energy strategies \u201cbut, unfortunately, nearly all the bills before us today continue to look backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tonko and Rep. Frank Pallone, both Democrats from New Jersey, stated that a bill proposing to eliminate the Methane Emissions Reduction Program was shortsighted.<\/p>\n<p>This program is for the industry \u201cwith significant funding to adopt emissions-reducing technologies with a market-based, incentivized approach,\u201d Pallone stated. \u201cThis is a sensible program that provides certainty for industry while incentivizing the reduction of super pollutants from the oil and gas sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are many other bills \u201cwould create new loopholes in important environmental laws\u201d What are the Republicans trying to do? \u201cwith little concerns for Americans\u2019 air, water, safety,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCommittee Republicans are showing today that their top energy and environmental priorities \u2026 are to do the bidding of \u2018Big Oil\u2019 and to undermine our nation\u2019s bedrock environmental laws,\u201d Pallone claimed that the GOP was \u201cstuck in the past, and failing to address the energy challenges and opportunities we face today.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3674957\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/01\/28\/climate-biden-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy  wp-image-3674957\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/climate-biden-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"US President Joe Biden signs executive orders\" width=\"765\" height=\"510\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3674957\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/climate-biden-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"US President Joe Biden signs executive orders\" width=\"765\" height=\"510\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and John Kerry, the special presidential envoy on climate, watch President Joe Biden sign executive orders related to climate. (Mandel Nagan\/AFP via Getty Images).<\/figure>\n<h2>Natural Resources Refines Mission<\/h2>\n<p>The House Natural Resources Committee, with a 25\u201320 GOP majority, continued on the same theme Feb. 8 that the Energy and Commerce Committee established the day before.<\/p>\n<p>Although there wasn\u2019t any legislation on its agenda, the panel adopted its \u2018Authorization and Oversight Plan,\u2019 essentially a mission statement, in a 21\u201316 partisan vote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHouse Republicans made a lot of promises last year and now the American people have given us the majority and we are ready to deliver on those promises,\u201d Chair Rep. Bruce Westerman, (R-Ark. said. \u201cIt was clear that energy independence, energy security, and lowering consumer costs was a top priority for our country and, therefore, for this committee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 12-page plan (<a href=\"https:\/\/naturalresources.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/hnr_118th_authorization_and_oversight_plan_01.27.23.pdf\">PDF<\/a>) calls for enhanced budget and spending reviews of federal land management programs and agencies under the committee\u2019s jurisdiction\u2019; expanding domestic energy production; expanding oil and natural gas programs, including offshore; investing in renewable and alternative energy; advancing \u201cmineral security; and reducing coal mining regulations, among other initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>Westerman said despite the push for alternate energies\u2014and President Joe Biden\u2019s State of the Union comment about oil and gas only needed for 10 more years\u201480 to 85 percent of U.S. energy use comes from oil and gas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven this dependence,\u201d He said that every administration, regardless its party affiliation should be working \u201cto unlock American potential to produce these necessities of life. Instead, we\u2019ve seen an attack on the production of American oil and gas, on mining, which translates into an attack on the economy of America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>U.S. producers are subject to stifling regulations \u201cdoesn\u2019t help the environment out one tidbit when we are importing these products from countries that do not have near the human rights standards, near the environmental standards, or can produce these materials as efficiently and effectively, as we can there at home,\u201d Westerman said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2958072\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2019\/06\/10\/Oil-platform-137991941-1-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy  wp-image-2958072\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Oil-platform-137991941-1-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"746\" height=\"497\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2958072\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Oil-platform-137991941-1-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"746\" height=\"497\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> A fin whale surfaced near an offshore oil rig off the coast of Southern California, near Long Beach, Calif. on January 29, 2012. (David McNew\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>He said that current energy policies are not only detrimental to the economy, but also threaten national security. \u201cWe are exporting wealth from here in the United States, many times to our adversaries, because of a not-in-my-backyard mentality. We hope to change that mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Westerman stated that \u201cnarrative out there that Republicans only care about the bottom line and don\u2019t care about the environment \u2026 is false\u201d And they are often short-sighted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepublicans care about the environment and the economy\u201d Belief is everything \u201cwe produce more products here at home, we benefit both greatly,\u201d He said. \u201cThe problem with the Democrats, and this administration particularly, is two things: physics and math. They ignore the science to create the idea of utopia centered around electric vehicles. I have no problem with electric vehicles,\u201d But, at the moment, the nation doesn&#8217;t have the capacity to support massive expansions of EVs without enriching China.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the committee\u2019s ranking member and recently unseated chair, said the plan gives climate change and its impacts short shrift.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClimate change is only mentioned twice\u201d In the plan, he stated. \u201cYet the single most-pressing issue affecting every single one of us every single day is climate change. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle still think it can be ignored, avoided, and, in some instances, outright denied.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grijalva said the panel\u2019s Democrats will insist \u201cthat climate must be a central focus of any legislation\u201d He called on Republicans to support this emphasis, even though he acknowledged it was unlikely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a moment yesterday in the president\u2019s State of the Union address\u2014almost like an epiphany\u2014where we reached common ground\u201d Acceptance \u201cSocial Security and Medicaid was off the table. We\u2019re all going to work together to make them stronger. I thought that was a rare and good moment, a special moment,\u201d He said. \u201cI hope we can look to find some common ground on some issues in this committee, but I don\u2019t think today is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grijalva\u2019s proposed amendment to incorporate a statement that the impacts of climate change be weighed in evaluating proposals was shot down in a 21\u201315 partisan tally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is a common practice for committees to set out their goals for the next two-years, particularly if a chamber has been under new management. With Republicans assuming control of the United States House of Representatives following November\u2019s midterm elections, the newly installed GOP leadership has been doing just that across the chamber\u2019s 20 standing &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1841227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[6436,4486,6394,12493,3653,10636,4757,6777,18175],"class_list":["post-1841224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-domestic","tag-energy","tag-gears","tag-gop-led","tag-house","tag-panels","tag-production","tag-shift","tag-throttle"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1841224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1841227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1841224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1841224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1841224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}