News

WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), held a hearing to discuss legislation to provide much-needed regulatory certainty to rural America. H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011, will prevent EPA from changing its current standard for coarse particulate matter, commonly referred to as dust, for one year from enactment. The bill also provides flexibility for state, local, or tribal regulation of "nuisance dust," generated from natural sources, unpaved roads, agricultural activities, earth...

WASHINGTON, DC - In the ongoing effort to conduct oversight of federal spending, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is continuing its examination of four government agencies and their efforts to implement the president's pledge to conduct a "page by page, line by line" review of the federal budget to cut obsolete programs and eliminate wasteful or unnecessary spending. Recent testimony provided by the federal government's accounting arm (the Government Accountability Office, or GAO) to the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee revealed nearly $2 trillion in funding set aside...

WASHINGTON, DC - Key members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee today praised a bipartisan proposal introduced in the U.S. Senate to establish a framework for the safe management and disposal of coal combustion residuals. Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-IL), and Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) applauded the introduced Senate bill, which aligns with H.R. 2273, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act, which passed the House last week. Senators John Hoeven (R-ND), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Michael Enzi (R-WY),...

WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) are urging Energy Secretary Steven Chu to make DOE officials available for transcribed interviews under oath as part of the committee's ongoing Solyndra investigation. Among other DOE officials, committee investigators are interested in interviewing Susan Richardson, Chief Counsel of the DOE Loan Programs Office and author of the DOE legal memorandum on restructuring the Solyndra loan guarantee which violated the plain letter of the law.  On October 18,...