President Biden’s anti fossil fuel industry moves have sparked opposition by Republicans in Congress to his nomination of New Mexico Democratic Congresswoman Deb Haaland to be the administration’s new Interior Department Secretary. Her confirmation hearing could be a bumpy one.
GOP members are preparing to fight her nomination when she goes before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for confirmation.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a member of the committee suggested to E&E News he is ready to hold Haaland accountable for Biden’s move to ban oil and gas drilling on federal lands.
“It won’t hurt the people who are sitting around congratulating themselves on ‘leave it in the ground’ policies,” Cassidy told E&E News. “It will hurt a family who was able to send their children to a better school, take a nice vacation in the summertime. … It will destroy their livelihoods.”
Minnesota Republican Rep. Peter Stauber is another member of congress, who can’t vote on Haaland’s nomination but is gathering support to oppose it.
“The nomination of Representative Haaland as Interior Secretary embodies clear support for the Green New Deal and a rejection of even the potential of high-wage jobs,” Stauber wrote this week in a letter to Biden co-signed by 14 fellow House Republicans. The letter did not include any signatures of Oklahoma Representatives.
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