Natural Resources Committee Passes Three Jobs and Energy Bills

The Full Natural Resources Committee today passed three bills—H.R. 2842, H.R. 2360 and H.R. 2752—to create jobs, produce more American made energy and advance House Republicans' all-of-the-above American Energy Initiative.

“Republicans are committed to increasing the use of America’s abundant energy resources to create jobs and grow the economy. These three commonsense measures protect taxpayer dollars while ensuring the government is not an obstacle to increased energy development,” said Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04). “Thousands of unemployed Americans are waiting for opportunities to get back to work and create more American made energy. There’s no doubt that these three bills will be job creators once signed into law and I look forward to working towards the next step in that process.”

•H.R. 2842, The Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011, sponsored by Rep. Scott Tipton (CO-03), passed by a bipartisan vote of 30-12. The legislation streamlines burdensome red tape and reduces administrative costs for the installation of increased small canal and pipeline hydropower development projects. Increased small hydropower installation will create local jobs, add clean, inexpensive electricity to the grid and supply the federal government with additional revenues while modernizing infrastructure. The Family Farm Alliance, the National Water Resources Association and the American Public Power Association have endorsed the bill.

•H.R. 2360, The Providing for Our Workforce and Energy Resources (POWER) Act, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Landry (LA-03), passed by unanimous consent. The bill ensures that laws governing offshore oil and gas development are also applied to offshore renewable energy development. The legislation creates certainty in all offshore energy production, which increases opportunities for offshore renewable energy and job creation in places like the Gulf of Mexico.

•H.R. 2752, the BLM Live Internet Auctions Act, sponsored by Rep. Bill Johnson (OH-06), passed by unanimous consent. The legislation saves taxpayer money and decreases the likelihood of fraud by allowing the Secretary of the Interior to conduct onshore oil and natural gas lease sales through a live internet auction.

President Obama as recently as Thursday press conference demanded to know what some ideas are from the Republicans in Congress to produce jobs. How's this? It's a start.