Article

U.S. Elections 2006
Implications for Environmental Policy¹

House Resources Committee: Good News for ANWR

Porcupine caribou Photo by Karsten Heuer

Repr. Richard Pombo (R-CA), Chairman of the House Resources Committee who had relentlessly sought to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain to oil and gas leasing, lost to Jerry McNerney (D-CA).

West Virginia’s Repr. Nick Rahall – in line to take the House Resources Committee gavel after the Democratic takeover of the House – vowed to work to protect environmental laws and curb “royalty relief” for offshore petroleum drilling.

If selected as the next committee chairman, Rahall said he would focus on protecting “right-to-know” laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act that have been under attack by Republicans in recent years, as well as act on controversial outer-continental shelf oil and gas royalty relief payments from the Interior Department.

In the 110th Congress, Democratic control of the House Resources Committee could be more noteworthy not for the legislation they attempt to pass, but the bills they do not try to pass. Issues pushed by Repr. Pombo, such as oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and revisions to the Endangered Species Act (E.S.A.), could disappear overnight-though not permanently-when Democrats take control in January 2007.

The Democrats will probably put much energy into overseeing the Bush Administration’s public lands and natural resources agencies and policies. Democratic control of the House will also bring new leaders to the subcommittees with direct oversight of agencies such as the National Park Service, Forest Service and Bureau of Reclamation that have dismayed conservationists over the years.

For instance, Repr. Greg Walden (R-OR), who pushed legislation to increase salvage logging on national forests through the House, will likely be replaced by Repr. Tom Udall (D-NM), the panel’s Ranking Member, who attempted and failed to amend the salvage bill to retain protection of National Environmental Policy Act procedures for burned forests.

House Science Committee: Focus on Climate Change

The House Science Committee is poised for new leadership in the next Congress following the retirement of Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) at the end of the 109th session. Climate change will be the major issue for the Science Committee in the next Congress, said Joanne Carney, director of the Center for Science, Technology and Congress at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Ranking Member Bart Gordon (D-TN) is the likely choice to take the Science Committee gavel. According to a draft memo, Democrats want to refocus the U.S. Global Change Research Program around potential regional and economic effects of climate change, and work to encourage the development and adoption of efficient and renewable energy technology.

Democratic victories in the House and Senate appear likely to boost efforts to strengthen U.S. global warming policy, though it is uncertain whether the next Congress and President Bush will work together over the coming two years to enact a first-ever federal law to cap greenhouse gas emissions.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) said the Democrats' success in the midterm elections improves prospects for action on a broad climate change measure that deals with multiple industrial sectors, not just power plants.

At least a half dozen climate bills are expected when the 110th Congress convenes in January.

¹Adapted from Elections 2006: Policy News update from the Ecological Society of America. 10 Nov. 2006