Press Releases

02.12.18

As Trump Proposes to Destroy Land and Water Conservation Fund & Privatize Infrastructure, Grijalva Highlights 219 LWCF Cosponsors

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today highlighted his bill permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which funds public land acquisitions and conservation efforts across the country, and underscored the bill's 219 House cosponsors as a rebuke to President Trump's budget proposal slashing LWCF land acquisition by approximately 90 percent from fiscal year 2017 levels. Grijalva's bill, H.R. 502, would pass the House today if given a … Continue Reading

02.12.18

Grijalva: We Need to Know Who Directed Trump’s Environmental Budget Cuts, Understand Potential Conflicts of Interest

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today said the Trump budget plan's deep cuts to popular environmental programs and failure to address climate change, despite clear national security warnings from his own top military officials, need to be understood through the lens of the Interior Department's ongoing conflict-of-interest scandals and lack of transparency. Grijalva pointed to regulatory carveouts and industry-slanted budget priorities that strongly suggest lo… Continue Reading

02.12.18

Grijalva on Trump’s Infrastructure Plan

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) responded to the release of President Trump's "infrastructure plan" that aims to gut fundamental clean water and air protections and puts our children's health at risk: "This is not a plan, it's not even a proposal. This is a sheet of tired, Republican talking points that blame everything on basic environmental protections and in the end, do nothing," Grijalva said. "Local communities, not big corporate developers who solely ca… Continue Reading

01.30.18

Grijalva: Trump Gutting Environmental Standards for Infrastructure Isn’t a Real Plan, It’s “A Tunnel Back to the Gilded Age”

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said following the State of the Union that President Trump's push to weaken or eliminate a wide swath of environmental standards in the name of infrastructure development shows the president cares about making rich corporations happy more than Americans' health, incomes or quality of life. Trump's plan to waive environmental laws, reduce public input on projects and provide no new meaningful funding is the opposite of a serious … Continue Reading

01.29.18

Grijalva Highlights Long List of Republican Attacks on Our Communities’ Health and Environment Ahead of State of the Union

Washington, D.C. - Ahead of President Trump's State of the Union address, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva's (D-Ariz.) staff released a year-end report today titled, 2017: A Year of the Resistance to highlight the relentless attacks Republicans in Congress and the administration have made on our country's foundational environmental policies. Republicans have successfully undermined key environmental laws and have introduced new pieces of legislation that put our public lands, waters, clean… Continue Reading

01.29.18

Grijalva Will Circulate Letter at Tomorrow’s Hearing Urging Sec. Zinke to Declare Bears Ears Monument Off Limits to Extraction

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will ask members of the Natural Resources Committee at tomorrow's hearing on the fate of Bears Ears National Monument to sign a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke urging him to withdraw the land inside the monument's traditional, lawful boundaries from new oil, gas and mining claims. The move comes shortly ahead of the Feb. 2 opening of much of the monument to new extraction claims, which could be maintained even when Presi… Continue Reading

01.25.18

Grijalva Welcomes New Committee Staffer Lora Snyder, Lead on Fisheries, Oceans and Species

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is proud to announce that Lora Snyder will be joining the House Natural Resources Committee Democratic staff on February 12, as the lead on fisheries, oceans, and endangered species. She succeeds Matt Strickler, who recently left the Committee to serve as Virginia's Secretary of Natural Resources. "Lora is a fighter. She understands what's at stake and is ready to help House Democrats defend our oceans and species," Grijalva sa… Continue Reading

01.25.18

Reps. Grijalva and McEachin in The Hill: New Report Shows That Interior Department’s Anti-Harassment Policies are Lacking

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, write in a new op-ed for The Hill that a new report by the Natural Resources Committee Democrats shows clearly how the Department of the Interior (DOI) and its bureaus can combat their sometimes pervasive sexual harassment problems. The report, #InteriorToo: Addressing sexual harassment across the Department of the Interior sta… Continue Reading

01.24.18

Grijalva, Lowenthal and McEachin Demand Oversight Hearing to get Answers from Sec. Zinke on the Draft Five-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Plan

Washington, D.C. - In response to the Department of the Interior's (DOI) inability to provide concrete details about DOI's five-year oil and gas leasing plan, leading Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee sent a letter to Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) today requesting a full oversight hearing on the planning process and insisted that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke testify to provide answers about his efforts. Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Ranking Member of the Subc… Continue Reading

01.22.18

Grijalva: Trump Admin Wrecks Alaska Wilderness As Interior Department Drifts Through Shutdown Without Leadership

Washington, D.C. - As Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed the land transfer order today opening a section of wilderness in Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to road construction, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the move - particularly alongside Zinke's recent lawless tweeting about offshore drilling policy in Florida and the illegal shrinking of Utah's Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - worsens the damage done to the Inte… Continue Reading

01.22.18

Grijalva and Lowenthal Question BSEE’s Rewrite of Critical Offshore Oil and Gas Safety Rules

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, sent a letter late on Friday to Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke questioning Department proposals that would modify two offshore safety rules. The rules were developed by the Obama administration's Interior Department, based on recommendations from National Academy of Sciences and academia, and discussions with industr… Continue Reading

01.19.18

BREAKING: Key Administration Drilling Official Contradicts Zinke on Whether Florida Coastlines “Off the Table” for Offshore Drilling

Washington, D.C. - At a hearing of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee moments ago, Walter Cruickshank, acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), said Florida is not off the table for offshore drilling activities, contradicting Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's tweeted statement a few days ago following a hasty meeting with Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R). Cruickshank's statement calls into question the entire process behind Zinke's tweet and raises serious questions a… Continue Reading

01.16.18

Dems Question BLM Withdrawal of Fracking Rule – Agency Admits It Won’t Generate New Energy on Public Lands

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, sent a letter this morning to Joseph Balash, assistant secretary of the Interior for land and minerals management, questioning the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) decision to withdraw its fracking rule, which lays out environmental and operational safety standards for fracking operations on public lands. The agency admits th… Continue Reading

01.10.18

Committee Advances a Republican Oil and Gas Giveaway Bill, Despite Democratic Protests

Washington, D.C. - Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee advanced the Streamlining Environmental Approvals or SEA Act (H.R. 3133) to the House floor. The bill was passed by voice vote today, but Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) stated that he still strongly opposes the bill and will continue to fight to stop the bill from passing on the House floor. "My position on the SEA Act remains the same, it's a dangerous bill that was solely written to fulfill the oil and g… Continue Reading

01.10.18

Ranking Member Grijalva: This Administration’s Energy Policies Are Arbitrary, Political and Incompetent

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today that the Trump administration's sudden decision not to open the Florida coastline to offshore oil drilling shows how deeply arbitrary and politicized the nation's energy policies have become under Republican control. Grijalva's comments come after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke declared with Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) yesterday - after a brief meeting during which the two men never left the Tallahassee airport[i] - th… Continue Reading

01.10.18

Grijalva Asks Interior Inspector General to Examine Stopped National Academies Studies, Locate Missing Public Funds

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter to Interior Department Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall today requesting an investigation of the Trump administration's halting of two major studies at the National Academies of Sciences (NAS). The public rationales for the stop-work orders do not stand up to scrutiny and suggest political motives, Grijalva writes. In August 2017, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) halted work on… Continue Reading

01.10.18

The First Committee Markup of 2018 is Focused on a Republican Oil and Gas Giveaway Bill

Washington, D.C. - House Republicans are launching into the new year by focusing their first Committee markup of 2018 on a Republican bill that would make it easier for oil and gas companies to expedite industrial drilling projects in our oceans. The Streamlining Environmental Approvals or SEA Act (H.R. 3133) would gut core provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to expedite seismic airgun blasting and other activities in oceans that can harm marine mammals. "Republicans are takin… Continue Reading

01.04.18

Grijalva: New Offshore Oil Leasing Plan Means More Environmental Disasters, No Help for Americans at the Pump

Washington, D.C. - The Trump administration's newly-announced five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing along the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in combination with its efforts to weaken offshore drilling environmental and safety standards, will put every coastal community in America at risk of environmental disaster and do nothing to decrease the price of energy for everyday Americans, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today. The leasing plan opens all federal U.S… Continue Reading

12.21.17

Committee Dems to Zinke: Increasing the Fees at National Parks Defies Interior’s Mission to Improve Access to Public Lands

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and 10 Committee Democrats sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke opposing the National Park Service (NPS) proposal to increase the entrance fees at 17 of its most popular national parks. The members state that the dramatic increases to entrance fees will discourage lower income Americans from visiting and enjoying public lands. Our most popular national parks, like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, should be focused on … Continue Reading

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