In the News
Marin leaders celebrate release of $42M education outlay
by Keri Brenner
Local leaders said they are relieved that millions of dollars in federal education funds for Marin have been unfrozen and will be fully restored. The Trump administration said Friday it would release more than $6 billion in funding nationally for English language classes, adult literacy and other programs that it had withheld on July 1. California schools had been slated to receive $939 million, of which Marin schools were in line for $42 million. Marin school superintendents, who have … Continue Reading
July 29, 2025
Grand Canyon wildfire spreads, now only 9% contained
by Avril Silva
Gusts of dry air expanded the wildfire burning in the Grand Canyon National Park over the weekend, with the incident team meteorologist expressing hope Monday that rain later this week could help fight the blazes. The Dragon Bravo Fire on Friday was considered to be at 26 percent containment, according to the federal government’s fire-tracking system. By Tuesday afternoon, the fire had grown to 71,000 acres and was considered 9 percent contained. Officials said biomass in the pine forest … Continue Reading
July 28, 2025
Huffman balks at Westerman NEPA bill; other Dems silent
by Kelsey Brugger
The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee wasted little time vilifying new bipartisan legislation to overhaul a core environmental statute — even as lawmakers in both parties say they want to work together on the issue. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) issued a press release Friday declaring the new "Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act" would be a handout to fossil fuel corporations while silencing communities during the environmental review … Continue Reading
July 24, 2025
New legislation could help 1,700 California growers ship cannabis to consumers
by Jacob Shelton
In a move that could reshape the cannabis marketplace for small producers, California Rep. Jared Huffman has reintroduced legislation that would allow the state’s smallest cannabis cultivators to ship products directly to consumers—both within state lines and, eventually, across them. The proposal, known as the Small and Homestead Independent Producers (SHIP) Act, aims to safeguard small farmers and manufacturers in the event of full federal legalization. Under the bill, direct-to-consumer … Continue Reading
July 23, 2025
Hearing showcases lingering divisions on permitting
by Kelsey Brugger
Lawmakers in both parties have been talking up the prospect of a bipartisan permitting reform deal this Congress, but if Tuesday’s House Natural Resources hearing offered any clues, they have a long way to go. The four-hour hearing on the "permitting purgatory" featured familiar talking points from Republicans about how National Environmental Policy Act reviews have become "limitless and excruciating exercises." “If we want to ensure a future where America remains a beacon of Liberty and … Continue Reading
July 22, 2025
Democrats line up behind bill to protect NOAA offices
by Daniel Cusick
Dozens of House Democrats are sponsoring legislation to block the Trump administration from shuttering NOAA and National Weather Service offices. The "Stop NOAA Closures Act," from Rep. Gabe Amo of Rhode Island and Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman of California, would impose a moratorium on closing offices, terminating leases, stopping construction and other new limits on access. The bill is co-sponsored by Science Space and Technology ranking member Zoe Lofgren of California … Continue Reading
July 21, 2025
Top House Democrat seeks answers on Grand Canyon fire
by Heather Richards
The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee is asking President Donald Trump how his administration initially responded to a still-burning wildfire in Grand Canyon National Park. In a letter Monday addressed to Trump, Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat from California, said political appointees like Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are ultimately responsible for how the Dragon Bravo Fire was managed. “As you have insisted in many, many other … Continue Reading
July 21, 2025
Interior’s new solar, wind policy sparks concerns of ‘shadow ban’
by Scott Streater
A new policy requiring the Interior secretary to approve all aspects of solar and wind project permitting has opened the floodgates for critics who say it’s the clearest signal yet that green energy is not part of President Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda. It has also prompted pushback from supporters who say the new policy is a long-overdue move to level the regulatory playing field following four years of the Biden administration prioritizing renewable energy development on federal … Continue Reading
July 21, 2025
Panel to debate overhaul of marine mammal law
by Garrett Downs, Daniel Cusick
A House Natural Resources subcommittee on Tuesday will meet to discuss a slate of bills, including a controversial draft to reform the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The discussion draft, credited to Alaska Republican Rep. Nick Begich, would scale down the scope of the MMPA and raise the bar for the federal government to take action to protect marine mammals like whales, dolphins, seals and polar bears. Environmental advocates have warned that, as written, the bill would gut the MMPA and … Continue Reading
July 16, 2025
Congressional hearing quashes the idea of ending the Financial Oversight Board before PREPA emerges from bankruptcy
by José A. Delgado
Through differing opinions, Republicans and Democrats alike agreed Wednesday that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA)’s debt restructuring must be completed before sunsetting the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB), created by the PROMESA law nine years ago and which could remain in effect until at least 2030. “We need to finish the job,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) told El Nuevo Día at the end of the hearing of the Indian … Continue Reading
July 16, 2025
Duffy, Nadler blast each other as liars in exchange over NYC subway safety
by Chris Marquette, Sam Ogozalek
DOT Secretary Sean Duffy and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) sparred at a House hearing Wednesday, accusing each other of lying about whether New York City’s subway system is safe — the fieriest of a series of testy exchanges between Duffy and Democrats. The heated back-and-forth with Nadler came when the congressmember took aim at Duffy’s ongoing effort to portray the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s system as dangerous, saying his criticism has missed the mark. Nadler, who represents part … Continue Reading
July 16, 2025
Yellowstone Delisting Proposal Backed by Montana Reps Clears Key Congressional Hurdle
by Amanda Eggert
A proposal by a Wyoming Republican representative to remove Endangered Species Act protections from Yellowstone grizzly bears narrowly cleared a key congressional vote Tuesday. The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources voted 20-19 to advance a bill that would reinstate a 2017 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to delist — or remove federal protections — from grizzly bears. Language in the bill also seeks to make the action immune to a court challenge. U.S. Rep. Harriet … Continue Reading
July 15, 2025
House panel OKs grizzly bear, vulture, lead ammo bills
by Garrett Downs
The House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday advanced a slate of bills, including to delist the Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear, allow the killing of black vultures and limit restrictions on lead ammunition and tackle. The Republican-controlled panel approved Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman’s H.R. 281, the “Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2025,” 20-19 along party lines. The legislation would require the Interior Department to reinstate a 2017 rule delisting the bear. The … Continue Reading
July 10, 2025
Huffman: Interior should revoke DOGE access to payroll data
by Jennifer Yachnin
Democratic lawmakers are pressing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to stop several of his senior aides — including one tasked with reorganizing the agency's workforce — from accessing a federal payroll system database, citing cybersecurity and privacy concerns. California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan also called on Burgum to reinstate three senior Interior Department officials who clashed with the … Continue Reading
July 09, 2025
‘Dangerous for Democracy’: Trump IRS Says Nonprofit Churches Can Make Political Endorsements
by Jessica Corbett
"This is another dark day for our democracy." That's what American Humanist Association (AHA) executive director Fish Stark said in a Tuesday statement responding to a move from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to allow houses of worship to endorse political candidates. When former President Lyndon B. Johnson was a senator, he introduced a provision of the U.S. tax code that bans organizations from participating or intervening in campaigns for public office as a condition for … Continue Reading
July 03, 2025
Park Service Is Left Short-Staffed in Peak Travel Season
by Eileen Sullivan
Vacancies at the National Park Service have shot up since President Trump returned to the Oval Office and slashed the federal work force, leaving popular destinations across the country short-staffed during what is expected to be one of the service’s busiest seasons. The park service, which manages 433 sites and 85 million acres, has lost nearly a quarter of its permanent staff since the beginning of the Trump administration, according to a new report from the National Parks Conservation … Continue Reading
July 03, 2025
Reps. Huffman, Thompson join fellow Democrats in criticizing Trump’s tax cut and policy bill
by Austin Murphy
Rep. Jared Huffman returned a call Thursday afternoon from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. If Huffman, a Democrat from San Rafael, sounded a little bleary, it was because he’d put in an all-nighter at the Capitol, where the House of Representatives was in a marathon session weighing the fate of President Donald Trump’s domestic policy legislation, with a House version stretching to 887 pages. “Zombies,” he said, describing the general state of fellow lawmakers he was seeing at the … Continue Reading
June 27, 2025
The California climate export catching fire in Trump’s DC
by Camille Von Kaenel
California’s wildfire tech companies are seizing their moment in Washington as Congress and President Donald Trump eye sweeping fire reforms. Representatives from Truckee, California-based forest mapping company Vibrant Planet and Earth Fire Alliance, a nonprofit coalition working on wildfire-tracking satellites that includes Google and Muon Space, backed the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act in a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing in Washington on Thursday focused on wildfire policy … Continue Reading
June 26, 2025
Committee approves coal mining, ocean mapping bills
by Michael Doyle
The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday approved several bills that provoked sharp disagreements over mining coal, mapping offshore resources and permitting undersea fiber cables. While approving 16 noncontroversial and bipartisan measures, the Republican-led panel debated at length — and at times with some verve — before also approving several more controversial bills. "When I hear this line about how we have the cleanest oil in the world, that is such a hollow argument, like … Continue Reading
June 25, 2025
These 4 million acres of California forests could lose protection. Here’s what Trump’s ‘roadless rule’ repeal could do
by Rachel Becker
The Trump administration’s plan to repeal a rule prohibiting logging and road construction in undeveloped parts of national forests would strip protection from more than 4 million acres within California’s borders. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced on Monday that she will act to rescind the “roadless rule,” developed during the Clinton administration, to allow “for fire prevention and responsible timber production” on more than 58 million acres of national forests. But … Continue Reading