Press Releases
Grijalva Highlights Industry Favoritism, Hits to Public Health and Royalties in Upcoming Republican Deregulatory Votes
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today highlighted the damage to public health and the environment that will stem from impending Republican votes to wipe out the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Methane and Waste Prevention Rule; the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement's (OSMRE) Stream Protection Rule; and the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Resource Extraction Rule, each of which carries significant benefits for ordinary Americans … Continue Reading
01.30.17
In Letter to Speaker Ryan, Ranking Members Grijalva, Pallone Highlight Indian Country Impacts of Repealing Affordable Care Act
Washington, D.C. - In a previously unreleased Jan. 24 letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) highlight the damage to Indian Country should Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and urge the majority to reconsider its plan to eliminate the law. The letter, which chronicles the full range of funding and services at risk, is available at http://bit.ly/2j9wdr7. The … Continue Reading
01.26.17
GOP Set to Scrap Rule Protecting Coal Country Using Quick and Dirty Process in House Floor Vote Next Week
Washington, D.C. - House Republicans are expected to vote next week to eliminate the Department of the Interior's Stream Protection Rule (SPR), which protects public health and the environment from the worst impacts of coal mining. As National Public Radio covered in a segment this morning, opposition to the move is widespread and extends to a fourth-generation West Virginia coal miner whose wife suffered severe asthma from coal dust exposure. The piece notes that the miner, Chuck Nelson, began… Continue Reading
01.26.17
Ranking Member Grijalva: Regardless of Who Picks Up the Tab, the Price of Trump’s Border Wall is Too High
Washington, D.C. - President Trump yesterday signed an executive order that pursues the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border - a project that would harm wildlife, erode tribal sovereignty, disrupt communities and perpetuate a humanitarian crisis. Despite repeated promises that "Mexico will pay," House Speaker Paul Ryan has said that American taxpayers will pay billions for Trump's wall. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto reiterated in strong terms yesterday that his cou… Continue Reading
01.24.17
Grijalva Statement on Trump Administration Freeze of EPA Grants to Flint, MI and Other Communities
Washington, D.C. - Today, Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) issued the following statement on the Trump Administration's decision to bar the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from awarding grants and contracts: "President Trump is withholding critical aid from communities across the country that desperately need funding to ensure safe drinking water, reduce asthma-causing air pollution, clean up contaminated and unsafe lands and waterways, and con… Continue Reading
01.24.17
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Respond to Trump’s Advancement of the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva and key members of the Committee released the following statement today on the announcement that President Donald Trump will advance the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines through executive order. Grijalva - who published a Feb. 27, 2014, New York Times op-ed opposing the Keystone pipeline and who met with leaders at the Standing Rock Sioux camp opposed to Dakota Access early last year - has been a leading advocate f… Continue Reading
01.24.17
Natural Resources Committee Democrats Elect Subcommittee Ranking Members
Washington, D.C. - Under the leadership of Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the Democratic Caucus of the House Natural Resources Committee held an organizational meeting today during which members were elected to serve as the Ranking Members of the five subcommittees: Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii, subcommittee on Federal Lands Rep. Jared Huffman of California, subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans Rep. Alan Lowenthal of California, subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Re… Continue Reading
01.24.17
Grijalva, Whitehouse to Trump: Keep Climate Denying Industry Shill Away from NOAA
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sent a letter to President Donald Trump today, urging him to remove a notorious climate change denier from his landing team at the Department of Commerce (DOC), which includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Kenneth Haapala, president of the oil industry funded Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) at the Heartland Instit… Continue Reading
01.13.17
Grijalva Welcomes Democratic Committee Members, Looks Forward to Promoting Solutions and Blunting GOP Environmental Attacks
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today welcomed the newly announced Democratic members of the House Natural Resources Committee. Grijalva said he looked forward to working with them and returning members to promote conservation and stop what are expected to be two years of constant Republican attacks on America's bedrock environmental laws. New members Reps. Colleen Hanabusa (Hawaii), Nanette Barragán (Calif.), Darren Soto (Fla.), Jimmy Panetta (Calif.)… Continue Reading
01.12.17
Ranking Member Grijalva, Rep. Meehan Offer Bill to Permanently Establish Land & Water Conservation Fund, Prevent 2018 Expiration
Washington, D.C. - Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) today introduced bipartisan legislation to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Act. In the more than 50 years since it was first passed with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats, the LWCF has come to be recognized as America's most important conservation program. The bill introduced today, available at http://bit.ly/2… Continue Reading
01.11.17
Ranking Member Grijalva: DOI Report Confirms Federal Coal Program is Broken and Outdated, Highlights Need for Reforms
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today hailed the release of the Department of the Interior's (DOI) scoping report on the review of the federal coal program, which concluded that "modernization of the coal program is warranted." "The first phase of Interior's coal program review tells us what the Government Accountability Office, the DOI Inspector General and others have already said: the federal coal program is broken and outdated," Grijalva said. "If the Ame… Continue Reading
01.11.17
Today’s Grijalva Amendment to GOP Deregulatory Bill Would Strip Republican Language Harming Federal Land Management Agencies
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will offer an amendment today to strip language in H.R. 5, the Regulatory Accountability Act, that makes it much more difficult for national land management agencies to protect public resources. Formally, H.R. 5 would make all land use management plans published by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) subject to an onerous economic analysis through a procedure described in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (R… Continue Reading
01.10.17
Grijalva Calls for Dem Action as GOP Prepares to Cancel Environmental Rules Even After Frivolous Investigations Found No Problems
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) yesterday sent a "Dear Colleague" letter to the entire House Democratic Caucus urging a united front against House Republican leaders' plan to eliminate two environmental standards - the Stream Protection Rule and the Methane Waste Prevention Rule (MWPR) - using the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Republicans are expected to use the CRA early in the 115th Congress to attempt to cancel federal agency rules instituted under the Ob… Continue Reading
01.09.17
Dear Colleague Letter on CRA Repeal of Stream Protection and Methane Rules Jan. 9
Ranking Member Grijalva urges House Democrats to oppose the Republican attempts to repeal the Stream Protection Rule, which governs mountaintop removal mining, and the Methane Waste Prevention Rule, which prevents the oil and gas industry from wasting natural resources owned by the public.… Continue Reading
01.06.17
Grijalva Expresses “Profound Disappointment” With Administration Choice Not to Protect Grand Canyon Through National Monument
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today expressed his "profound disappointment" in the Obama administration's decision not to protect the Grand Canyon area by establishing Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument. The effort to create the monument - strongly backed by Native American tribes across the region - is supported by 82 percent of voters nationally and 80 percent of voters in Arizona, a rare instance of an environmental initiative transcending political ph… Continue Reading
01.05.17
Grijalva Amendment to Republican REINS Act Forces GOP to Either Acknowledge Harms of Deregulation or Hide Data From the Public
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva will offer an amendment to the sweeping House Republican deregulation bill known as the REINS Act later today that forces GOP lawmakers to either account for the health and environmental impacts of weakened federal standards or vote against providing the public with valuable information about the costs of their actions. Formally, Grijalva's amendment mandates that any agency promoting a rule offer a public accounting of the rule's impact… Continue Reading
01.03.17
Grijalva Pushes Back on GOP Proposal to Make it Even Easier to Give Away America’s Public Lands
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a notice to Democratic leadership today highlighting a significant change the Republican Conference has proposed to House rules. The new provision would help House Republicans pursue their long-stated goal of giving away National Parks, Forests, Public Lands, Wildlife Refuges and other federal areas - currently owned and used by the American people - by requiring the House to pretend such giveaways have no cost. The Congre… Continue Reading
12.28.16
Grijalva Applauds President Obama for Designating Two New National Monuments; Remains Optimistic Grand Canyon is Next
Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) praised President Obama for taking another pivotal step in cementing his environmental legacy by establishing two new national monuments that will protect Native American lands, as well as critical environmental, historical and cultural resources. Today, under the Antiquities Act of 1906, Obama designated Gold Butte in Nevada and Bears Ears in Southern Utah. The President's announcement failed to include the proposed Greater Gra… Continue Reading
12.20.16
Grijalva: Arctic Withdrawal Helps Cement Obama’s Environmental Legacy
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today applauded President Obama's decision to permanently protect the Arctic Ocean and parts of the Atlantic Ocean from future offshore drilling. "Today's announcement is a victory for the environment, our climate, and one of the last great pristine wildernesses on Earth, and a defeat for Big Oil and their 'drill everywhere' agenda. The oil and gas industry will whine, but the fact is they still have acc… Continue Reading
12.19.16
Stream Protection Rule Release Evidence of an Administration Putting People First
Washington, D.C. - House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today hailed the release of the final Stream Protection Rule by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), a long-overdue regulation that will help protect people, water supplies, and wildlife from the destructive effects of mountaintop removal mining. "Mountaintop removal coal mining is one of the most destructive things that companies do to the environment, literally blasting off… Continue Reading