House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) on Wednesday announced an investigation of the Biden administration’s abuse of the Endangered Species Act, which drove up energy costs for the American people, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
Comer, as the Oversight Committee chairman, and Burlison, as the Oversight Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee chairman, sent a letter to Emily Menashes, the acting assistant administrator of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), about the Service’s compliance with President Donald Trump’s “declaration of a National Energy Emergency by reevaluating past actions and policies that impacted energy costs.”
Comer and Burlison said that Biden administration fashioned their policies to conform with radical environmentalist groups:
Environmentalist groups abused the ESA and regulations promulgated under its authority by filing a litany of lawsuits to create regulatory delays on infrastructure projects they oppose and to influence NOAA Fisheries’ decisions. Under the Biden Administration, NOAA Fisheries tailored ESA policies to conform with these groups’ demands. In one instance, the Biden Administration raised the bar for delisting a species from endangered status and sought to designate more habitats as critical habitats, even when endangered species living in those habitats are no longer found in those locations.
In another concerning example, NOAA Fisheries delayed renovations to the Santa Felicia Dam in California for years even though the dam, which can generate hydroelectric power, needs upgrades to prevent catastrophe in the event of an earthquake. In 2018, local officials determined the dam, owned and operated locally by United Water Conservation District (UWCD), needed improvements to meet standards for seismic activity.
“UWCD incurred tens of millions of dollars in costs due to the combination of NOAA Fisheries’ regulations and litigation from environmental groups. NOAA is demanding UWCD spend $100 million more on a fish passage system,” Comer and Burlison wrote.
The two conservatives noted that Trump’s National Energy Emergency declaration mandates that the Endangered Species Act Committee find “obstacles to domestic energy infrastructure specifically when deriving from implementation of the ESA.”
“Importantly, this process is intended to give impacted states and local communities a voice in deciding whether a federal action is in the interest of the public and its national or regional significance,” they added.
Subsequently, to better understand the NOAA Fisheries’ role in reducing energy costs, Comer and Burlison requested a staff-level meeting about the agency’s efforts to “comply with President Trump’s declaration of a National Energy Emergency as soon as possible.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
