Before getting started I would like to bring some attention to the committee mark-up that occurred yesterday to consider several nominations, including the nomination of Commissioner Baran to fill the remainder of Chairman MacFarlane’s term. While it is true that we recently held a hearing to consider Baran’s qualifications on September 11, 2014, the sole purpose of that hearing was to decide whether or not he was qualified to hold this position for the remainder of former Commissioner William Magwood’s term, which will expire on July 30, 2015.

Thank you, Chairman Boxer, for calling today's hearing, and thank you to our witnesses for coming here today. Last June, when President Obama announced his Climate Action Plan, we learned that he preferred his supporters not engage in straight economic arguments, overpromise on the impacts taking action will have, or debate the validity of the claim that the science is already settled. However, these are exactly the topics that need to be discussed, especially since the legislation that is brought before us appears to endorse certain aspects of the President’s misguided Climate Action Plan agenda.

The title of today’s hearing invokes concepts with which few would disagree. There’s no question that the federal government should foster innovative wastewater and water management practices, and that local treatment facilities are and should be leaders in ensuring safe water supplies. Unfortunately, as in so many other areas, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is acting as an impediment to innovation in the water utility sector.

In fact, EPA’s hindering of effective water and wastewater treatment is symbolic of a larger, systemic problem throughout the agency. Many Americans view EPA as a rogue agency that imposes its regulatory will in a manner that harms local communities and is contrary to law. Too often creating unnecessary obstacles to technological improvements and progress, EPA’s policies serve as a disincentive for innovation throughout the public and private sectors. Water and wastewater management are routinely frustrated by such challenges.

Sen. David Vitter, top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, has been investigating the collusion between environmental activists, lawyers and lobbyists, billionaires and their supporting foundations who use large sums of money to influence environmental public policy. Today, Vitter penned an op-ed in the Daily Caller entitled, "Romance In Obamaland: The EPA and The NRDC’s Beyond-Cozy Conspiracy"

While members across the political spectrum agree that a reinvigorated manufacturing sector would help the middle class, there is a major disconnect between this goal and the policies of the Obama Administration and far-left environmental groups that make it more difficult to secure better paying and more middle class jobs. Working hand-in-glove with the Obama Administration, far-left environmental organizations are laboring to implement policies that obstruct growth of the manufacturing sector, block domestic natural gas production, and shrink the economy,[10] while simultaneously expanding federal government control.

Endless litigation and regulation threaten the long-term viability of the American family farm.[4] Hostile environmental groups are teaming up with regulatory agencies under the guise of environmentalism, stewardship, and conservation. Yet the reality is that these efforts are an unprecedented regulatory assault to impair the agriculture industry, directed and controlled by the far-left political agenda of the Billionaire’s Club.

The American mining industry is responsible for more than 637,000 direct jobs and support more than 1.4 million jobs in all 50 states. Unfortunately, far-left environmentalists and the Obama Administration fail to recognize the benefits of the domestic mining industry, and they have been attempting to shut down all resource extraction. The main tactic used to block mining is to sue early, often, and on every aspect of the process. Members of the Billionaire’s Club fund the environmental activists, like WildEarth Guardians (WEG) and the Sierra Club, who file these frivolous lawsuits.

Today focuses on nuclear facilities and energy production. With high output capability and low variable operating costs, nuclear energy is an indispensable contributor to our base-load electricity needs and will continue to be for years to come. Despite the obvious benefits of nuclear energy, the trend in the industry is unfortunately bleak. This trend illustrates how far-left environmentalists and their allies in the U.S. Senate and the Obama Administration fail to recognize the benefits of the nuclear energy industry. In fact, evidence suggests that there is a coordinated campaign, financed in part by the Billionaire’s Club, which seeks to undermine the economic viability of the industry. These efforts have leveraged tremendous political pressure to influence the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and their decisions and have made it difficult to advance nuclear power.

Over the coming weeks, EPW Republicans will be detailing exactly how these coordinated efforts are destroying jobs and punishing industries and families across America. From farmers to miners to rig workers to manufacturers and fishermen, EPW Republicans will examine how their jobs and way of life are being targeted by well-funded environmental activists whose primary goal is maximizing government control, particularly over the land, water, and resources utilized by private industries and individuals. Today’s focus is forestry.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, has launched the second phase of his investigation into the collusion between environmental activists, lawyers and lobbyists, billionaires and their supporting foundations who use large sums of money to influence environmental public policy. Over the coming weeks, EPW Republicans will be detailing exactly how these coordinated efforts are destroying jobs and punishing industries and families across America. From farmers to miners to rig workers to manufacturers and fishermen, EPW Republicans will examine how their jobs and way of life are being targeted by well-funded environmental activists whose primary goal is maximizing government control, particularly over the land, water, and resources utilized by private industries and individuals. Today focuses on recreational fishing.