Doc Hastings: GOP Resources panel will hold White House ‘accountable’ on drilling

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the presumptive chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the upcoming House Republican majority will press the Obama administration to ensure deepwater oil-and-gas drilling proceeds while battling public lands and oceans policies that GOP critics call too restrictive.

“[T]he Committee will provide much needed oversight of the Obama Administration’s policies that have largely gone unchecked for nearly two years,” said Hastings, currently the panel’s ranking member, in a statement Wednesday.

“Our goal will be to hold the Administration accountable and get much needed answers on a range of issues including the de facto offshore drilling moratorium in the Gulf, potential new monument designations and plans to lock up vast portions of our oceans through an irrational zoning process,” he added.

White House critics — including Republicans and Gulf Coast lawmakers from both parties — fear that deepwater drilling will be held up even though the formal moratorium has been lifted.

Hastings and other western state Republicans also fear the administration will place new limits on energy development and other activities on public lands by creating new national monuments.

More broadly, Hastings said, “Creating new jobs and giving a much needed boost to the economy will also be at the forefront of our agenda.”

“Through the responsible stewardship of our natural resources we can put Americans to work, strengthen our economy and protect the environment. This includes increasing domestic energy production through an all-of-the-above energy plan and ensuring that public lands are actually open to the public. The livelihoods of rural communities, especially in the West, are dependent on the smart use of our public lands, water, timber, minerals and energy resources,” he said.