HAALAND VOWS BALANCE ON ENERGY
Interior nominee says oil and natural gas will continue to play a role.
WASHINGTON — Oil and natural gas will continue to play a major role in America for years to come, even as the Biden administration seeks to conserve public lands and address climate change, President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Interior Department pledges.
Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., named to lead the Interior Department, said she is committed to “strike the right balance” as the agency manages energy development, and seeks to restore and protect the nation’s sprawling federal lands.
Biden’s agenda, including the possible creation of a Civilian Climate Corps, “demonstrates that America’s public lands can and should be engines for clean energy production” and “has the potential to spur job creation,” Haaland said in testimony prepared for her confirmation hearing Tuesday. Haaland’s remarks are intended to rebut criticism from some Republicans who have complained that her opposition to drilling on federal lands will cost thousands of jobs and harm economies throughout the West.
Haaland, 60, would be the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency. The Laguna Pueblo member and two-term congresswoman often draws on her experience as a single mother and the teachings of her ancestors as a reminder that action the U.S. takes on climate change, the environment and sacred sites will affect generations to come.
Native Americans see Haaland’s nomination as the best chance to move from consultation on tribal issues to consent and to put more land into the hands of tribal nations either outright or through stewardship agreements. The Interior Department has broad oversight of tribal affairs and energy development.
“The historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me, but I will say that it is not about me,” Haaland said in her prepared testimony. ”Rather, I hope this nomination would be an inspiration for Americans — moving forward together as one nation and creating opportunities for all of us.”
She promised to listen to and work with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, and ensure that the Interior Department’s decisions are based on science. She also vowed to “honor the sovereignty of tribal nations and recognize their part in America’s story.”
She said she fully understands the role the Interior Department must play in Biden’s “build back better” plan for infrastructure and clean energy, and said she will seek to protect natural resources for future generations “so that we can continue to work, live, hunt, fish, and pray among them.”
Haaland’s nomination has stirred strong opposition from some Republicans who say “radical ideas” don’t fit in with a rural way of life, particularly in the West. They cite her support for the sprawling Green New Deal and Biden’s recent moratorium on oil and gas drilling on federal lands — which doesn’t apply to tribal lands — and her opposition to fracking and the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
“I have serious concerns with Rep Haaland’s radical views and support for the Green New Deal,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., tweeted after a meeting with Haaland. “Unless my concerns are addressed, I will not only oppose her confirmation for Interior, I will do all I can to defeat it.”
Daines is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will consider Haaland’s nomination at her hearing. The panel’s chair, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has not said how he will vote on Haaland’s nomination, which Democrats generally support.