Latest news with #SenateEnergyandNaturalResourcesCommittee
Toronto Sun
23-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
In Ottawa, U.S. senators push trade, Canadian tourism to their states
Published May 23, 2025 • 1 minute read U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) speaks during a confirmation hearing for former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum , President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of the Interior, before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 16, 2025 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images OTTAWA — Five United States senators are in Ottawa today to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney and underscore the long-standing relationship between the two countries. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Republican Kevin Cramer dismissed the current tensions between Canada and the U.S. as a temporary bump in the road. The delegation also includes Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar and Peter Welch. They say they want Canadians to continue to visit the United States ahead of the summer season and are stressing how important trade with Canada is for the states they represent. The senators were also scheduled to meet with the ministers of foreign affairs, national defence and industry, as well as the Business Council of Canada. The visit comes at a fractious time in Canada-U.S. relations, with the two countries embroiled in a trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump. Toronto Maple Leafs Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Canada World
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gavel in hand, here are Mike Lee's plans for the Senate energy committee
WASHINGTON — The hearing began without much fuss or fanfare. Senators quietly took their spots in their semicircular seating arrangements as Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, banged the gavel against the wooden desk. It was a short business meeting for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to consider a handful of lower-level nominations. It was mostly quick and efficient. But in other ways, it was cordial — at times, even playful. 'I'm told that we have colleagues in the building traveling to the committee hearing room by way of Neptune, apparently,' Lee said with a smile as committee action was paused due to the absence of some members. 'We will patiently await them. Sen. (Jim) Risch has offered to do a song and dance routine,' Lee added, prompting laughter from the room. It was a rare moment of levity in a usually stoic institution. But it offers a glimpse into Lee's leadership style and how he plans to guide his party through difficult challenges ahead. Lee is confident his conservative values, as well as his close relationship with President Donald Trump, will help with that. To the untrained eye, Lee is quite the enigma. He is prolific on social media, with the Utah senator posting several times an hour with seemingly no topic left untouched. But in the halls of Congress, Lee carries himself a bit differently — he walks briskly through the hallways, rarely stopping to chat with reporters he is not familiar with. When he does engage with questions, Lee carefully considers his words. This is a contrast from his online persona, but is emblematic of his background in law: cautious, calculated, deliberate. That lesser-known personality is the key to Lee's modus operandi. Although he is not known for being a bipartisan dealmaker, Lee has occasionally crossed the aisle on issues such as sentencing reform — and the Utah senator has good relationships with some Democrats despite policy disagreements. 'I'm looking forward to continuing to work with Sen. Mike Lee to deliver for the people and places of New Mexico, Utah, and all of America,' Sen. Martin Heinrich, Lee's Democratic counterpart on the committee, told the Deseret News. 'I've always believed in working across the aisle — especially when it comes to protecting access to our public lands." Lee was tapped as Energy and Natural Resources chairman at the beginning of this year, taking over the powerful committee at a crucial time for Republicans. Utah's senior senator has big plans for the committee, particularly when it comes to issues such as public lands and permitting reform. 'A lot of our Western communities have managed public lands with unmatched expertise for generations and have been able to balance multiple interests from ranching, grazing, recreation and conservation,' Lee told the Deseret News in an interview. 'We've achieved this despite sometimes hostile, overbearing federal policies that can distort that balance and threaten our way of life.' The issue of public lands is expected to become a flashpoint in the coming weeks as some Republicans push to sell thousands of acres of federally-owned land in Utah and Nevada in the party's upcoming reconciliation package. Lee has advocated to sell or transfer public lands for years, pushing instead to allow the state to control the roughly 35 million acres of federally-owned land in the Beehive State, roughly 67% of the state. Other Republicans have supported selling the land or to increase federal revenue by greenlighting new oil and gas leases. Making those changes will be challenging. A handful of Republicans have already opposed any proposals to sell public lands due to conservation and environmental concerns. 'There's a lot of frustration down in the West. I understand that,' Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., who co-founded the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus, said last week. 'But I prefer the management scheme. And I give an example as a hotel — if you don't like the management of a hotel, don't sell the hotel. Change the management. That's where I sit on that position.' The public lands issue could also put Lee at odds with ranking member Heinrich, who told the Deseret News one of his top priorities would be to 'keep public lands in public hands.' 'It is also vitally important that we make sure that hardworking families can continue to access their public lands, whether it's for hunting, fishing, hiking or just clearing their minds,' Heinrich said. 'The work we do on this committee is about building a stronger future for our kids — we must do that by working together to advance smart energy policy, keep public lands in public hands, and pursuing common-sense collaboration.' Another key issue Lee will need to navigate as part of the reconciliation process includes intraparty disagreements over what to do with former President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act. Several Republicans have been adamant they want to eliminate the IRA in full, including Lee. However, some GOP lawmakers in both the House and Senate are pushing to preserve a handful of green energy credits, warning that a full repeal would result in higher utility costs nationwide. Lee said he is aware of those concerns and that conversations are ongoing to address them. But he cautioned against cherrypicking parts of the law to uphold while discarding others. 'I know there's a wide range of opinions on this,' Lee said. 'I think the minute you start trying to draw perimeter lines around certain projects, it's going to be very difficult to contain the damage.' The Republicans wary of repealing the law in full include Utah Sen. John Curtis, who recently signed on to a letter against a full repeal, warning it could lead to 'significant disruptions' and weaken the United States on the global stage. However, Curtis told the Deseret News he and Lee have been able to have 'good conversations about energy policy and where things go in reconciliation and beyond.' 'Utahns are fortunate to have Sen. Lee as chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and have a seat at the table when it comes to the management of our public land,' Curtis said. 'Our rural communities face incredible burdens because of decisions made by bureaucrats in Washington.' Lee also noted the IRA originally passed Congress with only Democratic votes, arguing Republicans should not 'be eager to do their work for them in keeping any of that in there.' Overall, Lee said his main focus on the committee is to rein in the power of the federal government to ensure fewer decisions are made by 'unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats,' which he says often costs taxpayers more money. As part of those efforts, Lee has made it a top priority to pass the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny Act, or REINS Act, that seeks to change how regulations are passed and implemented in the federal government. The bill would require regulations with an economic impact of $100 million or more to be approved by Congress, giving lawmakers more control over how agencies operate. Lee has heavily pushed for the REINS Act for years, arguing it is crucial to rein in the federal government and reestablish separation of powers. 'If Congress had to vote on many of the same regulations that are costing taxpayers that much money, most of those couldn't pass because people would realize at some point it's overkill to adopt such exacting standards when it's not at all clear what benefit we're gaining from it and how that benefit matches up against the cost,' Lee told the Deseret News. Lee also plans to focus much of his time on permitting reform, which he said would be 'one of the most important things that we'll do through the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in this Congress.' Lee has long expressed a desire to streamline the permitting process to boost energy production, telling the Deseret News he wants to not only reform the authorization phase — which lawmakers spend a majority of their time on, he said — but also the build-out phase, which encompasses the actual construction of projects that are approved. Although Trump's reconciliation package has occupied most discussions in Congress over the last five months, Lee said talks about permitting reform are already underway and will likely ramp up in the coming months. Aside from his work on energy and natural resources, Lee is known for his conservative voting record and close relationship with the White House. Lee has positioned himself as one of Trump's most vocal supporters in Congress and this has allowed him to wield strong influence in the Senate. Lee said that relationship has been 'very helpful' in taking over the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, noting the president is 'very bullish on energy.' 'Every time I need to get him personally on something, I'm always able to reach him very quickly,' Lee told the Deseret News. That ease of access, Lee said, is sure to help with the forthcoming reconciliation package on issues that are likely to drive a wedge between Republican lawmakers. 'Where there is a difference of opinion within the party … it can be helpful to have somebody who can exercise leadership in resolving the dispute,' Lee said. On issues such as disagreements on the Inflation Reduction Act and green energy tax credits, Trump will 'absolutely' be able to find consensus. 'Very often the president can be the one to resolve disputes among members of his party in Congress,' Lee said.
E&E News
05-05-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Panels taking up DOE, Interior, Agriculture nominees
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will question more nominees for the Interior and Energy departments this week as other picks await action on the floor. The panel will hold a confirmation hearing on William Doffermyre to become Interior's top lawyer. Democrats are likely to question the energy industry executive's past defending the oil and gas industry. For DOE, the committee will hear from Catherine Jereza to become assistant secretary for electricity and Kyle Haustveit to become assistant secretary for fossil energy. Advertisement Jereza worked for the Edison Electric Institute, which represents utilizes, and is already at the department as an adviser. Haustveit has been a longtime executive for Oklahoma-based Devon Energy.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico groups cheer reintroduction of bill to protect Gila-area rivers and streams
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez on April 18 announced the reintroduction of the M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act, which would designate approximately 450 miles of the Gila and San Francisco Rivers and their tributaries as Wild and Scenic. (Photo courtesy New Mexico Wild) New Mexico Democrats U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez on Friday announced the reintroduction of the M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act, which would designate approximately 450 miles of the Gila and San Francisco Rivers and their tributaries 'wild and scenic rivers.' That designation would protect the area under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The bill has been introduced three prior times with support from the entire delegation. 'The Gila and San Francisco Rivers are among the last wild, free-flowing rivers in the Southwest— vital to the region's wildlife, communities, and culture. To truly safeguard the Gila's wild character, we must also protect its rivers,' Heinrich, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. Vasquez, who held a news conference with members of the Wild Gila River Coalition in Silver City on Friday, called the Gila River 'a symbol of everything we love about New Mexico—wild, beautiful and full of life. This legislation is about protecting that legacy for future generations.' Reintroduction of the bill came with support from a myriad of sources, including New Mexico Wild Executive Director Mark Allison, who said the bill 'honors the original vision of Aldo Leopold and river champions like the late Dutch Salmon, without whose efforts this river we love would have been greatly diminished. The legislation also aims to preserve sites held sacred to communities that have called the Gila region home for centuries. New Mexicans know how irreplaceable our natural and cultural heritage is and overwhelmingly support this effort.' (For more on Leopold and the Gila, be sure to read his 1921 essay 'The Wilderness and Its Place in Forest Recreational Policy.') Fort Sill Apache Tribe Chairwoman Jennifer Heminokeky noted in a statement that 'much of the Gila and San Francisco rivers are located within the Fort Sill (Chiricahua-Warm Springs ) Apache Tribe's original 14-million-acre homeland that our ancestors were removed from by force. The Gila River and its tributaries provide a cultural roadmap to our ancestors who thrived in the surrounding lands for centuries. This legislation reflects my belief that it is our responsibility to protect these cultural and natural resources for future generations, just as our ancestors cared for these lands and rivers before us. We will continue to stand with others in this community to protect the Gila and San Francisco rivers.' Residents and local governments also commended the legislation and remarked on its importance. 'Each member of this community has a different story of their experience and connection to the forest and the river, but protection of the Gila is extremely important to all of us,' Silver City Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Guadalupe Cano said in a statement. 'As our community continues to grow and evolve, our love of the Gila is the one thing that stays the same.'
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
As New Hampshire looks to reshape its solid waste future, all eyes are on the state Senate
Under the bill, landfills would be required to always have at least one person on site. (Photo by) The New Hampshire Senate has often trashed landfill bills. But with growing political attention to solid waste issues, including from the governor, advocates hope this year will be different. An early test came Tuesday, when the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee heard one bill to pause new landfills in the state for three years and another that seeks to rewrite recently updated regulations that some say are far too weak. The bills — House Bill 171 and House Bill 707, respectively — complement one another in ways. Advocates say the state should need only one new landfill in the next century. They argue taking a pause on new development will allow the state time to consider issues like the ones raised in HB 707 related to siting landfills, as well as others like managing the 'trash juice' several landfills have failed to handle properly, or addressing the fact that half the waste dumped in New Hampshire comes from out of state. Both bills proved uncontroversial in the House, passing on the consent calendar, where lawmakers approve a host of committee recommendations on legislation all at once and without debate. Solid waste issues in the state have garnered bipartisan support, with bills being led by both Republicans and Democrats. 'Landfills should be the last resort, and we only really need one in the next 100 years,' Rep. Kelley Potenza, a Rochester Republican leading HB 707, told committee members. 'And let's do it in a perfect place that's got good soil, clay, and we can make it happen.' In the backdrop of the legislative debates is a proposal for a new landfill that many — including Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte — have criticized for its close proximity to a pristine lake and state park. Casella Waste Systems, the Vermont company that has fought for years for the landfill in the northern town of Dalton, is now fighting the Department of Environmental Services in court over the agency's recent denial of a solid waste permit application for the project. HB 707 seeks to address criticisms against the state's updated landfill regulations, which went into effect in December. The body that gave the final green light to those changes, the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, had approved them even as some members were concerned they weren't adequately protective. Lawmakers on the panel argued, though, that those issues were policy ones for the Legislature to decide. This bill aims to take up that mantle. For one, it would establish stricter setback standards for new landfills from 'any existing drinking water well, perennial river, lake, or coastal water of New Hampshire.' Landfills would have to be 1,500 feet from those waters or be set back far enough so that groundwater from the site would take more than five years to reach those waters in the event of a leak or failure. Whichever of those two setbacks is the greatest would be what is required of the site. Additionally, it would strengthen the state's requirements for the hydraulic conductivity of the soil at the site of a landfill, a metric that helps describe how quickly contaminated water would move through the soil in the event of a leak or failure. Some types of earth, like sand or gravel, are more permeable than others, like clay. This standard — which would require a hydraulic conductivity of 0.0001 centimeters per second or less — would apply to the natural soils 20 feet below the landfill and under leachate storage and transfer stations. The current standard is 0.001 centimeters per second or less for the natural soil of the landfill going down 5 feet in depth. (The lower the rate, the slower pollution would move through the soil.) Or, in what critics have called a 'loophole' in the current regulations, a landfill can import a 2-foot base of soil with a hydraulic conductivity of 0.0001 centimeters per second or less. The bill would eliminate that option, stating explicitly that 'no amount of imported soil can overcome such deficiency' in the hydraulic conductivity of a site's natural soil. The bill would also require that applicants for new landfills and expansions to investigate the sediments and bedrock beneath and adjacent to the proposed site, 'at least to the depth of any aquifers currently used to provide drinking water to residents.' Under the bill, landfills would be required to always have at least one person on site. It also directs the department to incorporate the Ford Act into its landfill permitting requirements, 'specifically the provision limiting the construction or establishment of municipal solid waste landfills within 6 miles of certain smaller public airports.' Current law says the department 'may' deny a permit if a person 'fails to demonstrate sufficient reliability, expertise, integrity, and competence to operate a solid waste facility.' It may also deny a permit if a person or a company's 'officers, directors, partners, key employees or persons or business entities holding 10 percent or more of its equity or debt liability' were convicted or pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony within the past five years in state or federal court. This bill would change that 'may' to a 'shall,' making it a requirement that the department reject permits under those conditions instead of an option. The legislation would also make what advocates say is a key change to the statute governing the department's rulemaking. Instead of simply saying the commissioner has the responsibility and authority to adopt rules, it adds that those rules 'are necessary to protect the public health and the environment with an ample margin of safety relative to this chapter.' Some lawmakers on the panel, as well as a representative of Waste Management, which intends to expand its Turnkey facility in Rochester, indicated they would like more clarity in the language of the bill about how broad its exemption for expanding landfills is. Henry Veilleux, a lobbyist for Waste Management, said the standard for the 20 feet of undisturbed soil beneath the landfill 'would be problematic' and could create issues for the landfill starting in 2028. If the bill was changed so the landfill was allowed to bring in other material to be compliant, 'then it would be OK,' he said. He also raised issues with part of the bill that would strengthen existing references to storm events in permitting requirements to apply to 100-year storms 'with a 50% margin of safety,' arguing the department's current model makes more sense for the region. Though he raised concerns about these provisions, Veilleux also told the committee members he had just spoken to Potenza, and that the bill did not intend to impact the Turnkey facility. Shaun Mulholland, Lebanon's city planner, said he was concerned that parts of the bill would affect the city's plans to excavate its unlined landfill 'that is leaking into the ground' into a lined one. He said Waste Management had identified a number of those concerns, but also added that he felt it would be challenging for the city to find staff for a guard onsite 24/7, considering it already has 'great difficulty in this labor market in hiring people just to work in the daytime at the landfill.' He suggested technology like sensors would be more appropriate and effective. Michael Wimsatt, director of DES' waste management division, defended the department's rules at the hearing. He said those rules include a site-specific setback requirement, but critics reject that characterization. Wimsatt pointed to language that says landfills and associated infrastructure 'shall be located only in areas where groundwater monitoring for release detection, characterization and remediation can be conducted prior to a release having an adverse impact on groundwater quality at the property line' and before it has 'an adverse impact on a water supply.' It also requires the landfills are located so that releases 'will be detected and assessed, and remediation initiated prior to contamination reaching any perennial water body.' Current regulations also require more general setbacks of 200 feet from certain streams and 500 feet from other water bodies. Wayne Morrison, president of the North Country Alliance for Balanced Change, a citizen group that has advocated for more protective waste policies, called the provision Wimsatt cited 'a motherhood statement.' 'We think it lacks the heat behind it,' he said. On DES' argument that its current regulations are site specific, Potenza was blunt: 'They aren't.' 'That doesn't give anyone any instruction,' Potenza said of the provisions, 'and to be honest … it puts the state in a very precarious position, I believe, for lawsuits and everything like that, because it doesn't have anything, literally, specific.' Under the state's regulations, 'you can put a landfill anywhere in the state of New Hampshire right now, as long as you bring in some soil,' Potenza said. 'Doesn't matter what that … site is, as long as you're 500 feet back.' She called the state's rules the weakest in the world; when asked by a lawmaker if that was the case, Wimsatt said, 'I don't believe that for a moment.' The conversation on landfill siting underscored the push for a pause on new landfills in the state. And it's not just the direct neighbors of landfills who are affected, Morrison said. 'What I have found is it's in everybody's backyard,' he said. 'New Hampshire's a small state. If you mess up a water table, it doesn't just affect Dalton, it affects all the surrounding towns.' He said the state has ample landfill capacity to buy it time to carefully consider how it wants to move forward with its solid waste management. 'We have the time, and … I think we have the obligation to future generations of people in New Hampshire to step back, do the investigations, find best practices, think differently about what we're doing,' Morrison said. 'We have to live with these decisions for the next 100 years, and we have the time to fix them. Let's try and get it right.'
