In The News
The Energy 202: Zinke is gone. But this House Democrat still want his testimony.
by Dino Grandoni
It was only about three weeks after the midterm elections, and tensions had reached a boiling point between one of President Trump's Cabinet members and the top Democrat set to oversee his department next year. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, called on Ryan Zinke to resign over his "ethical and managerial failings." In response, the interior secretary accused Grijalva of being a drunk. After that remarkably personal and public attac… Continue Reading
12.11.18
BLM uses LWCF to purchase Mont. big-game habitat
by Scott Streater, E&E; News reporter
The Bureau of Land Management announced today that it has used Land and Water Conservation Fund money to purchase nearly 1,000 acres in southwest Montana in an effort to protect wildlife and improve access to public lands for big-game hunters. The purchase of the 960 acres, which are bordered on three sides by BLM-managed lands and the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, comes after Congress allowed the LWCF to expire Sept. 30, though there is still money in the fund derived primarily by roya… Continue Reading
12.03.18
In the Blink of an Eye, a Hunt for Oil Threatens Pristine Alaska
by By Henry Fountain and Steve Eder
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - It is the last great stretch of nothingness in the United States, a vast landscape of mosses, sedges and shrubs that is home to migrating caribou and the winter dens of polar bears. Aside from a Native village at its northern tip, civilization has not dented its 19 million acres, an area the size of South Carolina. There are no roads and no visitors beyond the occasional hunter and backpacker. But the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - a federally protected place of austere … Continue Reading
11.30.18
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke must resign. His multiple scandals show he's unfit to serve.
by Raúl M. Grijalva
Ryan Zinke needs to resign immediately as Secretary of the Interior. I take no pleasure in calling for this step, and I have resisted it even as questions have grown about Mr. Zinke's ethical and managerial failings. Unfortunately, his conduct in office and President Donald Trump's neglect in setting ethical standards for his own cabinet have made it unavoidable. While the secretary continues to project confidence, questions have grown since the election about his future plans, and the White H… Continue Reading
11.30.18
Incoming House committee chairman demands accountability for Trump’s destructive monument policy
by Mark Hand
As he prepares to take over as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and his staff are mapping out the best approach for fighting the Trump administration's attacks on national monuments. With the Republicans holding majority power in the House of Representatives for another month, Grijalva and his fellow Democrats will follow a legal approach against the Trump administration's national monument policy - at least for the time being. But when he tak… Continue Reading
11.29.18
Rep. Raúl Grijalva intends to force a reckoning with climate change
by Paige Blankenbuehler
Less than a week before the midterm elections, U.S. House Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D- Arizona, released a report detailing how the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, on which he has served for 14 years, stacked its hearings with industry interests. "Under Republican leadership," he wrote, "hearings have disproportionally included witnesses who pad their profits by degrading public lands." Now that Democrats have won a majority in the House, Grijalva will have his chance, as the commit… Continue Reading
10.15.18
Raúl Grijalva: Focus on policy instead of petty attacks
by Rep. Raúl Grijalva
In a recent op-ed by Pima County GOP Chairman David Eppihimer, the Pima County Republican Party leader took a direct nosedive into the proverbial political gutter. Devoid of any substantive policy proposals that would help the people of Southern Arizona, Mr. Eppihimer and my opponent Nick Pierson have resorted to petty personal attacks on my heritage, my family and my character. I can't say I'm surprised. At this point, it's part of the Republican playbook. From the day that Donald Trump an… Continue Reading
09.13.18
Republicans who never investigated Puerto Rico deaths are now trying to look serious on the issue
by Josh Israel
In the hours after President Donald Trump's blatant lie to the nation about the death toll in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, multiple Congressional Republicans made statements correcting his claim that the 3,000 death estimate was a Democratic conspiracy to make him look bad. But in the months after the disaster, they were too busy investigating the previous administration's law enforcement efforts to bother examining why thousands of Americans were left to die. Speaker of the House Paul Ry… Continue Reading
06.20.18
POLITICO Pro Q&A;: House Natural Resources ranking member Raúl Grijalva
by Anthony Adragna
Rep. Raúl Grijalva is promising aggressive oversight of the Interior Department if Democrats win the House this fall, something he says has been ignored by the Republicans now in charge of the House Natural Resources Committee. Grijalva, who has represented a Tucson, Ariz.-based district since 2003 and has risen to become the top Democrat on the resources panel, said the "arrogant" Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has turned his department into a "personality cult" for himself while declini… Continue Reading
06.13.18
House Republicans propose financial penalties for states that block offshore drilling
by Dino Grandoni
House Republicans put forward a proposal this week to impose hefty fees on states that do not approve of drilling for oil and natural gas off their coasts, a move that would pressure local leaders who oppose the Trump administration's plan to expand offshore leasing. The administration's plan has been met with stiff resistance from many Democrats and even Republicans in coastal communities. Elected leaders in several seaside states even vowed to block the federal government from allowing offsho… Continue Reading
05.18.18
Interior Dept. Dodges Watchdog’s Questions About Zinke’s Call To Alaska Senators
by Chris D’Angelo
The Interior Department took six months to respond to investigators probing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's apparent effort to bully Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) into supporting Obamacare repeal last year, and ultimately skirted their questions. In a letter HuffPost obtained, Daniel Jorjani, a former Koch brothers adviser appointed principal deputy solicitor in May, refused to give the Government Accountability Office details about Zinke's July phone call to Murkowski and fellow Alaska Re… Continue Reading
04.17.18
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's $12K charter flight approved without full info
A $12,000 charter flight by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was reviewed and approved by department ethics officials without complete information, because staffers who helped schedule the trip did not provide sufficient details, an internal watchdog said Monday. A report by Interior's inspector general said Zinke's use of a chartered flight after he spoke to a National Hockey League team in Las Vegas "might have been avoided" if Interior employees had worked with the team to accommodate Zinke's s… Continue Reading
04.16.18
Sources: Interior Officials Have History Of Hostility To Native Concerns
by Alice Ollstein
A scathing Inspector General's report released last week is raising new questions about last summer's mass reassignment of Interior Department (DOI) employees that disproportionately affected Native Americans. Now, current and former members of Congress and former department officials tell TPM that two top Trump political appointees at the department - at least one of whom played a key role in the reassignments - have long been hostile to Native concerns. Both officials, Deputy Secretary David … Continue Reading
03.13.18
Dems push Zinke to halt trophy hunting imports
by Timothy Cama
Dozens of House Democrats have asked Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to halt all trophy hunting import decisions for elephants and other species, expressing "deep concern" over the Trump administration's policy. The 55 lawmakers, led by House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), complained in a Tuesday letter that Interior's decision to consider trophy import licenses on a "case-by-case"basis reduces transparency and accountability and will allow more im… Continue Reading
02.13.18
Zinke 'supportive' of LWCF but gives budget the ax
by Jennifer Yachnin
While the Trump administration offered a tepid vision for the future of the Land and Water Conservation Fund in its fiscal 2019 budget proposal - slashing the program's acquisition budget by 95 percent - the Interior Department insisted Secretary Ryan Zinke remains a steadfast supporter. The LWCF - which uses nontaxpayer dollars to preserve and maintain national parks, forests, recreation areas and cultural sites - is set to expire Oct. 1 unless lawmakers reauthorize it. The program, created by… Continue Reading
01.30.18
Bears Ears bill hearing resumes after Democrats force more witnesses
by Jacqueline Toth
(January 30, 2018) - A hearing on a Republican House bill to establish two new monuments in place of the scaled-back Bears Ears National Monument resumed after Democrats forced the GOP majority to schedule more witnesses - all opposed to the bill - to testify on the issue. On Jan. 9, House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, recessed the first hearing on the bill (HR 4532) after a majority of Democrats on the Federal Lands Subcommittee submitted a letter to Federal Lands Subcommittee… Continue Reading
10.11.17
Rep. Lamborn Has Public Statement Read at Dec. 2014 Public Hearing on Browns Canyon National Monument
07.25.17
Feds Will Skip Environmental Impact Study Before Building Border Wall Through Wildlife Refuge
by Ayana Byrd
Though funding for the estimated $21.6 billion U.S.-Mexico wall has not yet been secured, the federal government continues to move forward with construction. In the latest development, the Trump Administration intends to invoke a 2005 anti-terror law to avoid conducting an environmental review of the impact the wall will have on a national wildlife refuge. Per the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), environmental impact studies are required for large-scale projects. But Reuters reports th… Continue Reading
07.20.17
GOP, Democrats spar over best way to save Endangered Species Act
by Ben Moffat
WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans agreed Wednesday that everybody wants to prevent extinction of endangered species - but they differ sharply on how to do that. That was the main issue as the House Natural Resources Committee took up five bills,what Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, called a "weird menu" of measures that would modify the Endangered Species Act in ways he called a "waste of time." Grijalva said that for Congress to "decide which species live or die - for all time - is arrogant… Continue Reading
05.03.17
Calls to audit debt made
by José A. Delgado
WASHINGTON - Democrats in Congress demanded yesterday an audit for Puerto Rico's debt, that the OB end the use of the legal bankruptcy mechanism, and for the government of Ricardo Rosselló to desist in stripping benefits from workers. Together with experts on the issue of the fiscal crisis and labor union representatives, democratic leaders participated in a forum in the House to demand greater attention by Congress to the plight of Puerto Rico, following the end yesterday of the s… Continue Reading