Energy & Environment

For many of us in Congress, this year will mark the first real substantive effort to deal with what could eventually be the crisis of the planet: global warming. But my great disappointment is that there are still a number of members who believe that global warming is a hoax perpetrated on the American public by college professors who want to get grants, and until we can get that kind of thinking taken out of the discourse, we’ll still only make moderate progress.

Section 1221 of the Energy Policy Act was never debated on the floor of the House floor and there was no opportunity to amend this bill on this particular issue.  It is imperative that we now have a full and transparent discussion about federal siting of transmission lines, especially when they cut across huge swaths of open space and in many cases over existing neighborhoods.  We just can't let the Department of Energy run roughshod over these areas.  And now that so many members realize what is happening, I suspect the interest in this issue will grow.

The need to restore salmon runs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers has long been a contentious issue in the Pacific Northwest. I believe a reasonable solution is possible that both helps salmon and doesn’t call for us tearing down our dams. However, these efforts are being compromised by thousands of California sea lions that eat an estimated 3,000 Chinook salmon each year.  That is why I have recently cosponsored the bipartisan Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act, which authorizes the lethal removal of aggressive sea lions that are preying on endangered Columbia River salmon.

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it can take three to five years for wildlife managers to get permission from the federal government to remove aggressive sea lions. Past attempts to remove the sea lions, which have included them being chased by boats, harassed by rockets and subjected to noise from underwater speakers, have all failed. Read more...

I don't know about you, but every time over the past month I have traveled to the pump to fill my truck up with gas, I've cringed.

As a member of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, I am committed to exploring ways in which we can broaden our energy supply through American alternative energy sources.

America must diversify our nation's energy portfolio and find ways to use cleaner burning, home-grown, renewable alternative sources.

Currently, I am working with members from both sides of the aisle to find a solution to our dangerous dependency on Middle Eastern energy, while protecting the American taxpayer. Read more...

Addressing the callousness of the fur industry is a global issue. Fur produced in Portugal is sold as a raw material by in large to China so, fur and fur-trimmed garments sold by U.S. stores labeled “made in China

She was a senior political appointee who ridiculed federal scientists. A civil engineer by training, she sarcastically rejected their recommendations. And she bragged about it.

Now she’s gone.

Julie McDonald, a deputy assistant secretary at the Fish and Wildlife Service, submitted her resignation on May 1, just weeks after an Interior Department Inspector General report criticized her for overriding recommendations of Fish and Wildlife scientists about how to protect endangered species.

While some toasted her departure, our mission has not yet been accomplished. Political interference at federal agencies remains a pervasive problem. Read more...

The issue of the fuel economy of our cars and light trucks is significant as our country faces an increasing energy crisis. Since 9/11 our need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil increases…[We are trying to] develop an approach that would not only advance our national security interests in not only reducing our dependence on foreign oil sources, but also an approach that will avoid unintended consequences that would adversely affect the auto industry and consumer choice.

Believe it or not, that old frying oil used to cook French fries and fried calamari at your local restaurant can also be turned into a safe, non-toxic, biodegradable and renewable source of fuel to power diesel trucks and machinery.

That's why I stopped by Jody's Club Forest in Staten Island, NY and the Yellow Hook Grille in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, recently to discuss my support of legislation to double the tax credit for making biodiesel fuel from recycled restaurant grease from $.50/gallon to $1.00/gallon. This bill, authored by Congressman Burgess (R-Texas), would help reduce the United States' consumption of foreign oil by encouraging the production of an environmentally-sound domestic fuel that can directly replace petroleum products. Read more...

A little known fact is that nearly one third of the total U.S. diet depends on the pollination honeybees provide for a wide variety of crops. Honeybees may be small in stature, but as the contributors of $15 billion in pollination value alone to our domestic agriculture industry each year, their value to our food supply is anything but small.

While we probably still wince at the thought of a painful bee sting from our childhood, there might soon be a day when we wish we could still hear those fuzzy insects buzzing around nearby.

A biological mystery -- the Colony Collapse Disorder -- is wiping out 40 to 60 percent of hives in South Dakota and several other states across the country, with certain states experiencing as high as a 90-percent loss of hives. Scientists are conducting extensive research to determine the origins of this disorder, but its cause and cure remain a mystery. Read more...

On my farm I have to use about 3,000 gallons of diesel each year. Like most Americans, I don’t have other options. And that’s why we’re paying three bucks for gas while CEOs are making $400 million bonuses. Three-dollar gas isn’t good for this farmer, it’s not good for Montana and it’s not good for America.

It’s going to take some hard work, research and innovation, but we will get more choices. And renewable energy is going to be a big part of the picture, especially in my state. In Montana, we’ve got a huge potential for developing alternative energy like biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol and wind power.

It’s a win-win-win situation. Calibrating our potential for alternative energy in America will not only lead to cheaper fuel, it will secure our country and help conserve resources for our future generations.