Latest news with #BobLatta
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Electrical manufacturers back bill to assess energy supply chain
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. Legislation directing the U.S. secretary of energy to conduct assessments of the U.S. electricity generation and transmission supply chains was approved by a House energy subcommittee on Thursday and now goes to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The Electric Supply Chain Act directs the energy secretary to prepare 'periodic assessments' that include 'any trends, risks, and vulnerabilities in the supply, demand, and availability of components for or related to generating or transmitting electricity, including components that are necessary for the construction or deployment of facilities that generate or transmit electricity.' The bill would require the secretary of energy to submit a report to Congress within one year of the legislation being enacted. The bill 'takes a proactive approach to identifying and addressing emerging issues that affect the power sector,' Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said in April at a hearing on ensuring domestic energy reliability. Latta, who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on energy, introduced the legislation. Electrical equipment manufacturers say they support the bill. 'We must prioritize grid reliability by ensuring all relevant voices involved in supplying energy are at the table, including supply chain vendors and the manufacturers of critical grid components,' Spencer Pederson, senior vice president of public affairs for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, said in a statement. The legislation would allow grid component manufacturers and supply chain vendors to 'provide the energy sector with greater clarity around their current and future capacity, opportunities for growth, and challenges related to maintaining a secure and resilient supply chain,' he said. 'More insight into the grid's component supply chains also will strengthen national security.' Having electrical manufacturers work with the Department of Energy's supply chain assessment will also help 'identify where potential issues related to 'foreign entities of concern' and other emerging issues might have national security concerns,' Pederson said. The bill calls for the supply chain assessment to include 'the effects of any reliance of the United States on any foreign entity of concern' related to electrical components and 'the exploration, development, or production of critical materials necessary for manufacturing such components.' 'America does not currently have the supply chain we require for true grid security,' Danielle Russo, executive director of the Center for Grid Security for SAFE, an energy and transportation security nonprofit, said in a statement. Analysis and recommendations from DOE "will be valuable in directing public policy toward strategies to secure our grid component supply chains.' Minerals are critical energy inputs and are intensive to process, noted Abigail Hunter, executive director of SAFE's Center for Critical Mineral Strategy. Latta's bill 'will unearth supply chain vulnerabilities affecting our bulk power system and midstream challenges to process those minerals at home,' Hunter said. 'Simultaneously securing inputs and infrastructure is the foundation for energy security and long-term industrial strength.' Recommended Reading Transformer, breaker backlogs persist, despite reshoring progress
E&E News
6 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
House panel sets vote on energy, permitting bills
A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will vote this week on legislation to address long-held Republican concerns around electric reliability. Lawmakers discussed the 13 bills during a hearing in April. They focus heavily on easing permitting for fossil fuel and nuclear infrastructure. 'Over the past several months, our Committee has heard from energy producers, grid operators, and experts on [artificial intelligence] that have discussed the need to produce more baseload power,' said E&C Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Energy Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-Ohio) about the bills. '[These] specific policy proposals would help achieve this goal and ensure American energy dominance.' Advertisement Republicans believe baseload energy sources — unlike wind and solar — can better allow the U.S. to meet power demand. But Democrats expressed opposition to almost all the bills during April's hearing, wanting more attention for renewables.
American Military News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
Fort Jennings native appointed to US Naval Academy
Fort Jennings native Jayden Saxton was one of nine Ohio 5th Congressional students nominated and recognized by U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) on their acceptance to one of the U.S. Military Service Academies at 180th Fighter Wing, Ohio National Guard, Sunday. Saxton will attend the U.S. Naval Academy. Each student received offers of appointment for the Class of 2029. 'I thank each and every student for stepping up to serve our country, and I know they will do well as they embark on this new journey,' Latta said in a press release. ___ © 2025 The Lima News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fort Jennings native appointed to U.S. Naval Academy
May 5—SWANTON — Fort Jennings native Jayden Saxton was one of nine Ohio 5th Congressional students nominated and recognized by U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) on their acceptance to one of the U.S. Military Service Academies at 180th Fighter Wing, Ohio National Guard, Sunday. Saxton will attend the U.S. Naval Academy. Each student received offers of appointment for the Class of 2029. "I thank each and every student for stepping up to serve our country, and I know they will do well as they embark on this new journey," Latta said in a press release. Featured Local Savings
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hundreds show up to town hall worried sick over federal cuts but Ohio GOP congressman a no-show
Huron County constituents gather for a town hall. While organizers said they sent multiple invitations to U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, the office of the Republican congressman reportedly never responded and did not show. (Photo by Marilou Johanek, Ohio Capital Journal.) Extra chairs were added to accommodate the overflow crowd at a recent town hall meeting in Ohio's 5th U.S. congressional district, a sprawling territory that includes all or part of 12 counties northwest of Cleveland to the Indiana border. A seat was reserved for U.S. Rep. Bob Latta at a table with a microphone and name placard, but the Bowling Green Republican was a no-show. A local group of Huron County constituents from Firelands Indivisible organized the affair. Members said they reached out to Latta's office on multiple occasions with requests to attend the town hall while the lawmaker was back in the district on recess. Some even tried to hand-deliver an invitation to the congressman's Elyria post. They never heard back from him. Latta's chief of staff, Emily Benavides, informed me her boss would be in 'Seneca and Hancock counties all day' and thus was unable to appear before a large audience of anxious constituents in neighboring Huron County. She emailed a brief platitude about how the nine-term congressman 'appreciates the opportunity to continue meeting and speaking with constituents — including providing timely responses to their inquiries through calls, emails and letters — as he has done throughout his time in public service.' Except, perhaps, when the heat is turned up in Latta's district and people clamor for a traditional town hall. For example, it got pretty hot in the 5th before U.S. House Republicans, including Latta, voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017. Supporters of Obamacare were up in arms across the country over another GOP attempt to repeal the landmark law that extended medical coverage to over 20 million Americans. Local citizens reached out to Latta's office on multiple occasion asking for a traditional town hall to talk health care but heard nothing back (a pattern?). The Republican's hometown newspaper headlined a story about the evasive congressmen: 'Latta missing in action as citizens demand town hall.' The account quoted numerous residents upset that their congressman was 'hiding' from them, ducking a 'real face-to-face town hall with your constituents,'(many of whom benefited from the ACA) doing photo ops to 'give the impression you are listening to your constituents,' or holding poorly publicized 'telephone town halls' where calls can be screened 'so as not to include anything we actually are demanding accountability on.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Fast forward to March 19, 2025. Another headline in another local newspaper noted 'Latta's empty chair' at a Huron County town hall the previous night. But it also detailed something remarkable happening in Ohio and other states. Constituents came in droves to the Norwalk meeting anyway. Nearly 200 of them filed into a community center compelled by the daily firehose of crazy from Washington. These people weren't what Republicans called 'paid protestors' in 2017 and today. The people who went to the event weren't 'agitators' or 'radical leftists' — as GOP leaders in D.C. have claimed about constituents demanding to be heard. They were everyday citizens worried sick about a country unraveling fast. They were newly engaged voters who were paying attention and plenty alarmed. They sought reassurance from their representative in a scary time but had to settle for his MIA snub, instead. Undeterred, they scribbled questions on cards to a panel of experts that filled in for Latta. The specialists focused on local ramifications of the shambolic dismantling of the federal government without any measured planning or forethought. A fifth-generation farmer who once led the Ohio Farmer's Union feared what the random slashing of farm-to-school food programs and farming subsidies (already approved) would do to hard hit farming communities in the state bracing for another round of agricultural tariffs — after losing billions in Trump's 2018 trade war with China. A former Navy pilot who's written extensively on civil-military affairs described the abiding sense of betrayal felt by veterans over sweeping cuts at the VA arbitrarily eliminating thousands of jobs, comprehensive health services and recently expanded benefits — which included zeroed-out spending for a fund meant to cover costs for illnesses linked to military burn pits and other chemical exposure. A medical professional with 30 years in the nursing field warned about devastating consequences to the most vulnerable Ohioans (and especially rural hospitals) from the deep cuts to Medicaid and the ACA's Medicaid expansion that House Republicans, including Latta, put on the table when they passed their budget bill. That could force the largest Medicaid cuts in American history to pay for Trump's 4.6 trillion tax cut to the ultra-rich. An Oberlin college professor was stark about Trump invoking wartime powers to deport undocumented immigrants without due process: 'If he can use this (the Alien Enemies Act of 1798) to deport immigrants he doesn't like, he can then use this act to intern those Americans who say things he doesn't like.' The crowd was also terrified about their earned Social Security benefits being in the crosshairs of the president's unelected billionaire bestie. More than 2.4 million Ohioans rely on the social safety net Elon Musk is taking aim at while pushing changes to make it harder for seniors to access benefits. Latta's constituents were desperate for answers, or at least a public reckoning, about the most serious threats many have ever faced in their lifetimes. He gave them an empty chair. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
