Committee

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has scheduled a hearing at 10 a.m. EDT May 25 to consider President Trump’s nominations of Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson to be members of FERC and Dan Brouillette to be deputy secretary of the Department of Energy.

An omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government through the end of September calls for a 1% cut in funding and no staff cuts at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a far cry from budget and staffing cuts the Trump administration proposed for the agency in the next fiscal year (FY).

The oil and natural gas industry’s ongoing attempt in West Virginia to get some kind of law passed to gather landowners into large tracts for unconventional horizontal drilling will likely have to wait another year as the latest legislation remains stuck in the House Energy Committee with little time left in the regular session.

Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for LNG and senior vice president of the Natural Gas Supply Association, appealed in a letter Monday to key lawmakers for “a clear and efficient regulatory path for LNG [liquefied natural gas] exports, a measure that held broad bipartisan support in the previous Congress but unfortunately was not passed.” Riedl called for legislation to expedite LNG export approvals. Riedl wrote to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, Vice Chairman Joe Barton and Ranking Member Frank Pallone; Senate Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell; as well as Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “Greater regulatory certainty for LNG export applications will enable America to compete on a global level, encourage investment here at home and create tens of thousands of American jobs,” Riedl said.

A New Mexico legislative proposal, SB 288, to fund early childhood education with surcharges on oil and natural gas, as well as electricity production, failed to get out of committee on Tuesday. Industry representatives oppose the proposal.

The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee voted Thursday to approve Oklahoma Attorney General (AG) Scott Pruitt’s nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), suspending committee rules to push past a Democratic boycott.

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is scheduled to vote next week on whether to confirm President Trump’s nominees to lead the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Interior (DOI).

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is scheduled to vote next week on whether to confirm President Trump’s nominees to lead the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Interior (DOI).

House Republicans and Democrats on the Science, Space and Technology committee sparred Wednesday about whether they have the legal authority to require state attorneys general (AG) to give them documents related to an investigation of ExxonMobil Corp.’s climate change research.