Newsletters
Ranking Member Grijalva Statement on House Republicans’ Passage of Polluters Over People Act
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on Republicans' passage of H.R. 1, the Polluters Over People Act, through the House. The Polluters Over People Act is a shameless giveaway of handouts and loopholes to the oil, gas, mining, and other polluting industries. This legislation puts Americans in harm's way by gutting our bedrock and environmental and public health laws and ignoring the climate cris… Continue Reading
03.28.23
Ranking Member Grijalva Blasts House Republicans' H.R. 1, The Polluters Over People Act
Washington, D.C. - On the House floor today, Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) spoke against Republicans' H.R. 1, the Polluters Over People Act, which is a shameless giveaway to the oil, gas, mining, and other polluting industries. The Polluters Over People Act puts Americans in harm's way by gutting our bedrock and environmental and public health laws and ignoring the climate crisis-all in the name of fast-tracking polluter projects. WATCH Ranking Mem… Continue Reading
03.28.23
Ranking Member Grijalva Requests Hearing on Alarming Climate Change Report
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter calling on Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) to hold a hearing to examine the findings of last week's Sixth Assessment Report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report asserts that we must pursue "urgent, effective, and equitable mitigation and adaptation actions" to stop global warming. READ the full letter here. Synthesizing research fro… Continue Reading
03.24.23
Ranking Member Grijalva Applauds Court Ruling to Limit Funds Entitled to Bondholders in PREPA Bankruptcy Case
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain's Wednesday ruling that holders of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) bonds do not have a secure claim to the utility's current and future revenue and are only entitled to the value of funds in existing PREPA reserve accounts. The U.S. District Court also ruled that bondholders had an unsecured claim to the … Continue Reading
03.24.23
Congressional Budget Office Says H.R. 1, Republicans’ “Polluters Over People” Bill, Will Increase the Deficit
House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) newly released estimate that Republicans' H.R. 1, the "Polluters Over People Act," will increase the federal deficit by $2.4 billion over the next ten years. CBO further warned that the bill would add another $5 billion or more to that number in a subsequent ten-year period. "We already knew that Republicans' H.R. 1 was throwing the A… Continue Reading
03.22.23
Ranking Member Grijalva, Rep. Lee, Senators Duckworth and Booker Introduce the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice For All Act
Washington, D.C. – Today, on World Water Day, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) reintroduced the newly named A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice For All Act at a bicameral press conference, joined by Vice Ranking Member Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) and a diverse array of grassroots groups, youth advocates, and environmental justice community leaders from across the coun… Continue Reading
03.21.23
Ranking Member Grijalva Cheers Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range National Monuments, Pacific Remote Islands Conservation
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on President Biden's designation of two new national monuments: Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and Castner Range National Monument in Texas. President Biden also announced that he will be directing the Secretary of Commerce to initiate a new National Marine Sanctuary designation for the U.S. waters surrounding the Pacific Remote Islands, as well as s… Continue Reading
03.13.23
Grijalva, Ocasio-Cortez, Huffman, and Sen. Markey Issue Joint Statement on Willow Project Decision
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Ranking Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety today issued the following joint statement on the Biden administration's fina… Continue Reading
03.09.23
Committee Republicans Pass Polluter Giveaway Bill to Fast-Track Dirty Energy by Ignoring Community Voices and Climate Change
Washington, D.C. - At today's House Natural Resources Committee markup, the Republican majority voted to pass their Polluter Giveaway bill, the TAPP American Resources Act (H.R. 1335), introduced by Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.). No Democrats voted for the bill. The legislation includes Republicans' so-called "permitting reform," which guts our fundamental environmental and public health protections, namely the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), in order to fast-track oil, gas, and minin… Continue Reading
03.07.23
Grijalva, Territorial Delegates Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Address Disparities in Data Collection for U.S. Territories
Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the delegates of the five U.S. Territories-Rep. Aumua Amata Radewagen (R-American Samoa), Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-CNMI), Rep. Jim Moylan (R-Guam), Rep. Jenniffer González Colón (R-Puerto Rico), and Rep. Stacey E. Plaskett (D-USVI)- introduced the bipartisan Territories Statistics Collection Equity Act to address disparities in available data and data collection methods relat… Continue Reading
03.06.23
Ranking Democrat Grijalva Introduces Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act to Protect Sacred Site in Central Arizona
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today announced the introduction of the Save Oak Flat From Foreign Mining Act to permanently protect Tonto National Forest's Chí'chil Bi?dagoteel Historic District, also known as Oak Flat, from foreign mining operations that will permanently desecrate the area and destroy its tribal cultural and religious heritage sites. CLICK HERE for full bill text of the Save Oak Flat From Foreign Min… Continue Reading
03.03.23
Ranking Democrat Grijalva and Senator Markey Lead Call on President Biden to Reject the Willow Project
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, today led their colleagues in sending a letter to President Joe Biden calling on his administration to reject ConocoPhillips' Willow Master Development Plan (MDP), a massive 30-year oil and gas development proposal on public lands in the National Petrol… Continue Reading
02.28.23
Republican Majority Holds Hearings on So-Called “Permitting Reform” Bills that Fast-Track Polluter Projects by Gutting Environmental Review
Washington, D.C. – Today, House Natural Resources Republicans held two legislative hearings—one in the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee and one at the Full Committee level—to examine three bills that will advance their so-called “permitting reform” agenda to fast-track fossil fuel development and mining, at the expense of the environment and communities. Similar to numerous Republican bills introduced in the past, these bills aim to severely hamstring… Continue Reading
02.27.23
Grijalva Introduces Bill to Protect Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales
Washington, D.C. - Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced the Restoring Effective Science-based Conservation Under Environmental Laws Protecting Whales Act (RESCUE Whales Act) to repeal language passed in December's FY2023 omnibus funding package that significantly threatens the survival and recovery of the North Atlantic right whale. "The language passed into law in the omnibus poses an existential threat to the dwindling North Atla… Continue Reading
02.13.23
Government Watchdog: Cleaning Up Abandoned Mines Costs American Taxpayers Millions, Future Costs Unknown
Washington, D.C. - Today, the nonpartisan Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, requested by then-Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and then-Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), highlighting the need for improved reporting on total cleanup costs for abandoned hardrock mines on public lands. Currently, there are 22,500 known abandoned mine features on public lands that pose environmental hazards. GAO previously estimated that th… Continue Reading
02.08.23
On Heels of Big Oil’s Record-Breaking Profits, Committee Republicans Hold Hearing on Expanding Fossil Fuel Development Even Further
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Natural Resources Committee Republican majority held the Committee's first oversight hearing to examine how Congress and the federal government can enable even more oil and gas drilling and mining on public lands and waters. Over the past few weeks, four of the biggest oil companies-Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips-reported their highest profits in history, making $1 trillion in sales in 2022. Meanwhile, climate disasters cost the country $165 billion… Continue Reading
02.07.23
Republican Majority Passes Industry Wish List Agenda, Rejects Amendments on Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Puerto Rico Recovery
Washington, D.C. – At this morning’s House Natural Resources Committee markup, the Republican majority voted to pass their Authorization and Oversight Plan for the 118th Congress, along party lines. The plan, as Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) pointed out in his opening statement, is a check list of the fossil fuel and mining industries biggest asks, including opening public lands and oceans to more drilling, stripping public input from permitting, and attacking e… Continue Reading
02.03.23
Grijalva Requests Updates on Puerto Rico’s Finances and Energy from New Oversight Board Executive Director
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Committee Ranking Democrat Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter last week to welcome the newly appointed Executive Director of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, Robert Mujica, Jr. The letter requests Mr. Mujica's responses to several questions about the island's finances and the recent privatization of Puerto Rico's energy system. The full letter is available here. The Oversight Board is responsible for overseeing Puer… Continue Reading
02.01.23
Ranking Democrat Grijalva Slams Move to Approve Massive Willow Oil and Gas Development Project
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Committee Ranking Democrat Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of the Interior's decision to take the next step forward in approving ConocoPhillips' massive Willow project, which will lock in oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska for the next 30 years. A final Record of Decision will be made in no fewer than 30 days. Approval of the Willow project, which includes 250 wells, m… Continue Reading
01.31.23
Ranking Democrat Grijalva Welcomes Full Roster of House Natural Resources Committee Democrats, Announces Top Positions
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Democrat Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on welcoming the Committee's full roster of Democratic members for the 118th Congress. Grijalva also announced the Committee's top Democratic positions, which are noted in the list below. "The climate crisis requires nothing short of our most committed leaders in Congress, and this group of Natural Resources Democrats is just that," said Grijalva. "I'm pro… Continue Reading