Natural Resources leadership picks forecast ideological divide

February 18, 2021

Democrats and Republicans yesterday announced their selections for chairs and ranking members of the House Natural Resources subcommittees, drawing stark contrasts between the two parties' ideological platforms and approaches to policies relating to energy, the environment and public lands.

They also lay bare the tensions likely to persist between the full committee chairman, Arizona Democrat Raúl Grijalva, and the panel's new ranking member, Arkansas Republican Bruce Westerman.

Buoyed by a newly unified Democratic Congress and allies in the White House, Grijalva is expected to shepherd through his committee a legislative agenda that complements the climate orders being advanced by the Biden administration — ones that are being lauded by the left and demonized by the right.

"The American people can expect to see a major push from us to create good jobs, hold polluters accountable, and establish federal environmental justice standards with real teeth," Grijalva said in a statement.

Westerman, who recently traveled with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to Texas to speak out against Biden's freeze on oil and gas leases on federal lands, called his subcommittee leadership lineup "the best possible team ready to take on any challenge and show Americans that conservation is inherently conservative."

Their choices for chairs and ranking members reflect these stances and signal the conflicts likely to arise in the months ahead.

Vice chairs, public lands

A major question mark heading into the 117th Congress was who would be chosen to replace Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) as the vice chair of the full committee and the chair of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee.

Haaland was picked to serve in both roles in the last Congress, despite being a freshman, and quickly became Grijalva's chief legislative partner and collaborator. She is now awaiting confirmation as secretary of the Interior (E&E Daily, Feb. 17).

To succeed Haaland in the vice chair position, Grijalva has selected Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Ill.), a staunch progressive elected to Congress in 2018 who was given a seat on the Natural Resources Committee in early 2020 due to his commitment to environmental justice issues.

"The Democratic Caucus approved Rep. García joining our committee because he knows that protecting environmental quality is really about protecting the quality of human lives," Grijalva said at that time. "He represents a large population of color with major environmental justice needs that Congress needs to address. Democrats like him are the future of American conservation."

García, in a statement yesterday on his appointment to be vice chair, said he is eager to help Grijalva "reverse the anti-science, anti-environment agenda of the Trump administration," plus "end environmental racism [and] right the wrongs committed against indigenous peoples."

Replacing Haaland as the Public Lands Subcommittee chair will be Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), another sophomore lawmaker who made his mark quickly on environmental issues.

At the start of his time on Capitol Hill, he was named a member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Soon after that, he helped secure passage of a major Colorado conservation bill that would designate a combined 400,000 acres of new wilderness and recreation areas in his state.

Now, fresh from serving as one of the House managers in the Senate trial over former President Trump and the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, Neguse has become the first Black lawmaker and Coloradan to lead this subcommittee.

Westerman announced yesterday that García's and Neguse's ranking member counterparts will be Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho).

Fulcher will be the new ranking member on the Public Lands Subcommittee, replacing the panel's longtime top Republican, Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who is moving over to be ranking member of the Indigenous Peoples of the United States Subcommittee.

In this role, Fulcher will be Neguse's foil. While Neguse supports the federal government's ability to purchase public lands for conservation purposes, Fulcher has taken a more protectionist approach to the issue, speaking for many Western conservatives who feel the government is too aggressive in its desire to add to the federal estate.

"The federal government controls 63% of Idaho's natural resources," Fulcher said in a statement, "and I am looking forward to having a greater influence in ensuring western states are properly represented in Washington, D.C."

Gohmert, who will be assuming the vice ranking member position as the third-most-senior Republican on the Natural Resources Committee, was most recently the ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

His highest-profile committee appearance in recent months was when he attended a hearing without a face mask and soon after discovered he had COVID-19.

Grijalva, who was pressured by then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to return to Washington to hold an in-person hearing with agency officials despite the health risks, went on to test positive for the disease, as well.

Oversight

Grijalva last month said he hoped Westerman would consider recent events in making leadership assignments on his side of the aisle, singling out Gohmert as well as Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.).

Both Republicans helped perpetuate Trump's myth of a stolen election that culminated in the insurrection at the Capitol (E&E Daily, Jan. 12).

Westerman did not take Grijalva's advice, not only elevating Gohmert but retaining ranking member status for Gosar.

Previously the top Republican on the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, Gosar — who unsuccessfully challenged Westerman for the ranking member slot on the full committee — will now be the ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

In a statement, Gosar said he "look[s] forward to our important work in the 117th Congress, including holding the Biden Administration accountable."

It's not likely the Democratic-led committee will be doing aggressive oversight of the Democratic-led administration, however, particularly with an ally like Haaland at the helm of the Interior Department.

Grijalva has actually signaled he is interested in doing oversight of some of the decisions of the previous administration and looking into the role of industry bias in agency rulemaking.

To lead those investigations, Grijalva has tapped Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) to be chairwoman of the Oversight Subcommittee.

Porter gained viral fame for her sharp questioning of executives as a former member of the Financial Services Committee, relying on her now-famous whiteboard to make her point.

She recently revealed that she had to drop Financial Services from her committee portfolio because of other assignments, unable to receive a waiver to remain a member of that coveted panel.

Grijalva, however, told E&E News in a recent interview that he recruited Porter specifically for this leadership assignment.

"Californians are already experiencing the devastation of the climate crisis, including record wildfires and deteriorating air quality," Porter said in a statement yesterday.

"I'm humbled and excited to chair the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee to hold polluters accountable, safeguard all of our communities, and help spearhead solutions to the climate crisis."

Other assignments

With Haaland's exit from committee leadership, Grijalva has named New Mexico Democratic freshman Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández the chairwoman of the Indigenous Peoples Subcommittee, ensuring that the Land of Enchantment continues to be represented at the highest levels of the full committee.

Reps. Jared Huffman and Alan Lowenthal, both California Democrats, will remain the chairmen of the subcommittees on Water, Oceans and Wildlife and Energy and Mineral Resources, respectively.

Del. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, an independent representing the Northern Mariana Islands, will continue to serve as vice chair for insular affairs, with Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (R) returning as the ranking member.

Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), who was named to the Natural Resources Committee midway through last year, will be the new ranking member for Energy and Mineral Resources. This will be a chance for him to advocate for the embattled Twin Metals copper-nickel project near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which he wants to see proceed in hopes of sparking a mining renaissance in the Iron Range portion of his district (E&E Daily, Oct. 27, 2020).

"I have tirelessly defended the right to responsibly develop our God-given natural resources, a key pillar of my district's local economy that has been constantly under attack," Stauber said in a statement.

"The opportunity to lead the Republican efforts ... at this pivotal time in America will allow me a critical platform on which to fight for our way of life in northern Minnesota and defend against the constant attacks on high-wage American mining and energy jobs."

Freshman Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.) has been tapped to lead the GOP on the Water Subcommittee, offering eight years of experience as a member and then chair of the Oregon Water Resources Commission.

In the press release, Bentz said he would fight dam removal policies, promote responsible water storage solutions, and provide "a thoughtful check and balance to the Biden Administration and the Democrat majority in Congress."


By:  Emma Dumain
Source: E&E News Reporter