▶ 0:23:49>> the senator lee will be here momentarily. Today we will meet with three exceptional americans nominated for senior positions in the administration. The nominees are the assistant secretary of energy kyle haustveit to be the under secretary of energy for the department of energy, commissioner david will assert renominated -- david lacerte and congressman stevan pearce to
▶ 0:24:21Be the director of land management. I want to thank president trump for sending all these qualified nominees. We have senator lummis who will make an introductory statement for former congressman steve pearce. I know you are on a tight schedule so we will turn directly to you senator lummis.
▶ 0:24:40Sen. Lummis: . >> out of order. [laughter]
▶ 0:24:47Sen. Lummis: Thank you to my dear colleague from wyoming. Thank you, committee for allowing me to introduce to you my friend and former colleague steve pearce as nominee for the bureau of land management and I will tell you without a doubt there is no better person for this job then steve pearce. We served together in the united states house of representatives.
▶ 0:25:20Sen. Lummis: We worked side-by-side on natural resource issues that are vital to our western states. I got to see firsthand how he operates. He fights for his constituents, he listens to his constituents. He is one of those rare republicans who served in a bright blue state.
▶ 0:25:42Sen. Lummis: The way he got elected was by constantly listening to his constituents, not just showing up during election years but showing up every weekend for family events in the communities he represented. It was such a unique way that he had secret sauce in his district that it was even featured in the wall street journal, how he got elected.
▶ 0:26:12Sen. Lummis: He is very attuned to the people he represents. He fights for his constituents. When you mexicans needed people in their corner he showed up every time -- when new mexicans needed people in their corner he showed up every time. He came away from this town with an understanding a lot of people lack and that is how the decisions that are made here work on the ground.
▶ 0:26:42Sen. Lummis: How they land in wrenching communities, energy producing counties, tribal nations and rural economies. He does not see the bureau of land management as a line item in the federal budget. He sees it as boots on the ground in communities that depend on how demand is managed. It is getting to be that fewer and fewer people even know what it stands for.
▶ 0:27:09Sen. Lummis: I was watching tv and they set our next guest is the head of blm and I thought we are making news. Little did I know the next person on the screen was the head of black lives matter. I never thought about them as acronyms that represented such different things to such a different audience.
▶ 0:27:34Sen. Lummis: That is why it is so important to have somewhat at the helm at the blm who really understands the boots on the ground. The difference between blm land and national park service lands and fish and wildlife service's lands. Very different purposes for our wilderness areas and our blm land. Different applications of things.
▶ 0:28:05Sen. Lummis: Right now we are facing a nominee who understands those differences and is truly capable of implementing the law of the way it was designed. While steve pearce is a fighter, I can also tell you he is genuinely kind and thoughtful. We used to sit to each other on the floor of the house.
▶ 0:28:25Sen. Lummis: We both have a love of the taos society of artists and one day I looked over at he was looking through the artists we share and collect and it became one of those wonderful relationships you have with another member who has an interest outside of the immediacy of what we deal with. Sorry.
▶ 0:28:53Sen. Lummis: It was such fun because so many of the things of those artists are the land and the scene in the air. We have shared many memories in our time in the house. I love his dry sense of humor. It gives a lighter air to the intention of our jobs.
▶ 0:29:19Sen. Lummis: When things got tough he keeps showing up company does not turn away from those uncomfortable dialogues. He keeps listening and he found ways to work across the aisle to get things done. That is the kind of leadership blm needs. Steve holds a core belief I share.
▶ 0:29:41Sen. Lummis: The people who know and work on our western lands no better than the people in washington what they need and how we can be good stewards of those lands. He believes strongly in respecting states and listening to local expertise. He knows that washington should partner with western communities .
▶ 0:30:07Sen. Lummis: He knows responsible economic development can transform communities and lift families while preserving these magnificent landscapes we represent. There is no one better to have the bureau of land management. Steve pearce has the vision and the heart. This is a man with heart to do this job well. I strongly support his nomination and I urge my colleagues to confirm him. Mr. chairman, thank you so much.
▶ 0:30:40Chair Lee: Thank you. We will now turn to senator hoeven to give respective opening statements and we will proceed from there.
▶ 0:30:50Sen. Hoeven: Thanks to you and ranking member heinrich, I appreciate you holding the hearing and I appreciate the opportunity to welcome kyle haustveit back in front of this community. Back for very good reasons with a great decision by president trump to nominate you for this new role at the department of energy. Kyle served with distinction.
▶ 0:31:21Sen. Hoeven: He was the assistant secretary for hydrocarbons and geothermal energy. Doing a great job in that role. We worked closely with him so I know that firsthand. His background in energy is diverse. Fossil fuels but all types of energy. It is impressive. Now he is nominated the under secretary energy spot.
▶ 0:31:47Sen. Hoeven: The third ranking position in the department of energy and is a great -- you do a great job in that role along with chris wright who I also know personally and who has done a fantastic job and james stanley we all know from his time. Outstanding team. Also welcome and congratulations to his wife and four children.
▶ 0:32:17Sen. Hoeven: I see three. I am missing one. Yes. I missed that. My saying that right? Neveah. I bet you are a good babysitter for the other three. Harper, noah, and hudson. Welcome to all of you guys. Hudson, what happened to your wrist? Playing some sports?
▶ 0:32:56Sen. Hoeven: She is from not too far where I grew up. You have a beautiful family. Kyle, you have to be on your game because it sounds like your parents are watching remotely. Grandparents, you'll have to be on your game. Congratulations to them as well. Another person from northwest north dakota.
▶ 0:33:27Sen. Hoeven: Grew up living the energy economy. It is in his blood. Third-generation energy worker. Petroleum engineer by training. Innovator and a problem solver. In the bennett of patented hydraulic fracturing technique used across multiple shale basins in the technology has been incredible unlocking energy from shale across the nation.
▶ 0:34:01Sen. Hoeven: We have been working on crack the code two. Crack the code one was when we figured out how to produce oil and gas out of shale economically. We knew we could do it from a technological standpoint for years but the key was making it viable. We worked on that during my days as governor.
▶ 0:34:25Sen. Hoeven: With directional ruling and hydraulic fracking we have unlocked the shale, not only -- in the permian basin and in new mexico in a big way. It has absolutely been a revolution in terms of energy for the country now crack the code 2.0 is using enhanced oil recovery to double that production. We will do it even in places like wyoming if you can imagine that.
▶ 0:34:55Sen. Hoeven: It is a big deal. Kyle understands this at a level that will enable us to crack that code a second time. There are huge ramifications for our country and then why it is so important to nominate him for this position of leadership. With that, thank you Mr. chairman and ranking member for the opportunity to introduce kyle haustveit.
▶ 0:35:20Chair Lee: Thanks so much. We will go ahead and have the witnesses make their way to the table. Before we start with you go ahead and have a seat. I reckon I will give a respective opening statements. -- senator heinrich and I will give our respective opening statements. Today's nominees have been nominated to positions that have a lot of challenges before them.
▶ 0:35:52Chair Lee: They will face monumental tasks and stakes that go beyond the responsibilities and the duties of any one agency. They go to a basic question. Can the united states govern its resources in a way that is capable of meeting the moment? Electricity demand is rising at a pace we not seen in decades.
▶ 0:36:17Chair Lee: Data centers, advanced computing , and the return of domestic manufacturing our push -- are pushing our grid to its limits. Wide stretches of the american west or under federal management and decisions made in washington can make or break the communities that surround those lands. Our foreign adversaries recognize the implications. They are expanding their production and strengthening their control over supply chains.
▶ 0:36:43Chair Lee: In past years we watched the biden regime partner with progressive environmental lobby willfully ignore some of those realities and layer on rules holding american-made energy hostage for unrealistic environmental objectives. Domestic energy production was blocked at every turn.
▶ 0:37:07Chair Lee: We became dangerous reliant on foreign supply chains from adversarial countries that are not to say the least all that interested in seeing america succeed. Rather than treating american energy and mineral resources as strategic assets they instead treated them as liabilities to be phased out and kept in the ground in perpetuity. We saw a governing philosophy that ignored even the most direct affected by their decisions.
▶ 0:37:34Chair Lee: Local officials, county commissioners, tribal leaders showed up and offer their expertise and then watched as the final outcome bore little resemblance to what they put on the record. That approach deepened distrust and deeply damage the relationship between washington and communities throughout america forced to live with consequences made hundreds or thousands of miles away.
▶ 0:38:02Chair Lee: Each of you if confirmed for the position for which you have been nominated, each of you will have passed before you -- at the bureau of land management that means administering some 245 billion acres -- 240 5 million acres of public land under sustained yield mandates that had been outlawed over the year by congress.
▶ 0:38:32Chair Lee: At the department of energy that means overseeing the offices responsibility for electricity, nuclear energy, hydrocarbon, cybersecurity, the strategic petroleum reserve at the emergency grid authorities congress has provided under the federal power act.
▶ 0:38:54Chair Lee: It means exercising regulatory judgment over interstate transmission, wholesale markets, natural gas infrastructure and the investment across our entire economy. What matters now is how that authority will be exercised. Will america's resources be developed at home or will we be forced to rely on foreign competitors?
▶ 0:39:18Chair Lee: Will communities have a genuine seat at the table or will they be notified after the fact that their concerns have been disregarded? I look forward to hearing from each of you how you will carry out the duties and responsibilities of the respective offices to which you have been nominated. Thank you. The chair now recognizes senator heinrich, the ranking member of this committee.
▶ 0:39:45Sen. Heinrich: The committee has previously considered nominations for two of the nominees before us. The senate confirmed Mr. haustveit nomination to be the assistant secretary of energy for fossil lasts september and Mr. lacerte's nomination to serve the final year on the federal energy regulatory commission. We still have an obligation to examine Mr.
▶ 0:40:11Sen. Heinrich: Haustveit's qualifications for the broader responsibilities he will have to be the under secretary of energy and we must consider whether Mr. lacerte has earned an additional five year term. Our third nominee poses a somewhat greater challenge for us. Congressman pierce, who I have long known and often worked with has been nominated to be the director of the bureau of land management.
▶ 0:40:39Sen. Heinrich: If confirmed he will become the steward of more than 240 4 million surface acres of public land and another 700 million acres of surface minerals. The federal land policy and management act, the law that established the bureau of land management prescribes cell the director is to perform his important duties. It says he is to manage the land and resources under his jurisdiction as public lands.
▶ 0:41:07Sen. Heinrich: They belong to the public, not to any special interest but the american people. Not to our generation alone but to future generations as well. The public lands charter calls for them to be managed for fish and wildlife as well as energy and mineral production, for recreation as well as resource development.
▶ 0:41:27Sen. Heinrich: Their value is to be measured not in economic returns or output alone but also in the intangibles of scenic, scientific, historic, and archaeological values. A friend of mine likes to describe public lands as the in full on which our collective western identity -- as the anvil on which our collective western identity was formed.
▶ 0:41:51Sen. Heinrich: The federal land says our public lands are to be maintained in ownership and meet the present and future needs of the people that are preserved and protected in their natural condition without permanent impairment. The act tells us the director must be someone who carries out these functions and performs these duties in accordance with principles. Congressman pearce has had a long career in public life.
▶ 0:42:20Sen. Heinrich: He served seven terms in the house of representatives and three terms as the head of the republican party my home state of new mexico. He has cast many votes and made many public statements. Some of these positions he has taken it called for the selling off of public lands. That makes it challenging for me to view his potential tenure as one of stewardship.
▶ 0:42:50Sen. Heinrich: My questions today will largely reflect such as those reservations. The conversations we had in my office. It is the presence prerogative to nominate who he wants but it is also the responsibility of us on this committee to assess his nomination and recommend whether or whether not the senate should confirm him. Our predecessor committee proudly for the title the public lands committee.
▶ 0:43:21Sen. Heinrich: Oversight of the public lands was our original purpose and it remains one of our foremost responsibilities. To discharge this trust we depend heavily on the dedicated public servants at the bureau of land management who devote their careers and their lives to the care of the lands and we depend on the director of the bureau to carry out the functions of his office.
▶ 0:43:44Sen. Heinrich: Our hearing is congressman pearce opportunity to make his case for his nomination and how he would manage the public lands if confirmed and delay our concerns. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.
▶ 0:44:04Chair Lee: Thank you very much. First witness today will be the honorable kyle haustveit of north dakota, nominated to be the under secretary of energy, the third highest ranking officer in the department of energy with broad jurisdiction over many offices and programs.
▶ 0:44:28Chair Lee: He currently serves as the assistant secretary of energy for hydrocarbons and geothermal energy, position to which the senate confirmed him last year and in that position he already plays a leading role in investing in research development and implementation of fossil fuel derived projects and strengthening american energy and critical mineral supplies.
▶ 0:44:52Chair Lee: Prior to his current service he worked on energy issues in the private sector and he is a graduate of montana technical university and the university of oklahoma. Our second witness is the honorable david lessard -- david lacerte nominated to his position -- charged with developing electricity and natural gas at reasonable prices and has jurisdiction over interstate electricity
▶ 0:45:22Chair Lee: Transmission and wholesale electricity sales as well as interstate transportation and sales of natural gas in addition to regulating hydroelectric facilities. He is also no stranger to this committee as he was confirmed to his current post by this committee and by the senate just a few months ago. He has a distinguished career at the federal and state levels.
▶ 0:45:50Chair Lee: In addition to his deployment as united states marine in afghanistan. Mr. lacerte is a lawyer. He graduated from louisiana state university. Our final witness is the honorable stevan pearce of new mexico, nominated to be the director of U.S. euro of land management or -- the director of the U.S. bureau of land management or blm.
▶ 0:46:21Chair Lee: Yes long history of serving new mexico's congressional district in the house of representatives. He has also served as a pilot in the air force during vietnam where he was decorated for his actions. He is a graduate of new mexico state university and eastern new mexico university. He served as an elected official from a western state by some experience and expertise to run the blm.
▶ 0:46:49Chair Lee: Before the witnesses begin their testimony I will swear them in of each of you will stand and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give to the community will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Let the record reflect that each witness responded in the affirmative. It is the committee's practice to ask the following three questions who appear before us.
▶ 0:47:16Chair Lee: Will you be available to appear before this committee and other congressional committees to represent the positions of your agency and respond to issues of concern to congress? All three witnesses responded in the affirmative. Are you aware of any personal holdings investments or interests that could constitute a conflict of interest or create the appearance of such a conflict of interest should you be confirmed and assume the office to which you've been nominated? >> all three witnesses responded in the negative.
▶ 0:47:47Chair Lee: Are you involved in or do you have any assets in a blind trust? All three witnesses responded in the negative. With that I will now invite each of the nominees to offer their opening statements and introduce their guests with them if they choose to do so. We begin with secretary haustveit.
▶ 0:48:07Mr. Haustveit: Chairman lee on the ranking member heinrich and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I am deeply honored to be considered for the role of undersecretary of energy at the U.S. department of energy. I want to express my sincere gratitude to president trump and energy secretary right for his support. Thank you to senator hoeven for the kind introduction. I thank you to my family and friends here today and those watching online.
▶ 0:48:38Mr. Haustveit: Here's my high school sweetheart and best friend and wife and our four children. Along with several close friends. Thank you all for your love and support. I want to give thanks to my lord and savior, jesus christ, for his grace and guidance on this journey. I was born and raised in north dakota just a few miles from the historic discovery well. My family's roots run deep in energy and agriculture.
▶ 0:49:07Mr. Haustveit: One grandfather managed drilling operations on the other farm to family homestead where he and my grandma still live today. I developed a profound appreciation for both industries and the role energy plays in modern agriculture. I am proud to say I'm a third-generation energy worker. My family's connection to energy spans decades and their hard work instilled in me a deep respect for the industry and its importance to our nation.
▶ 0:49:38Mr. Haustveit: With a small nudge for my late grandfather I pursued a degree in petroleum engineering followed by an mba in energy from the university of oklahoma. This combination has been instrumental in shaping my career and preparing me to address the challenges and opportunities in the energy sector. Early in my career I was fortunate to lead a team that invented and commercialized a diagnostic now used globally for tracking and resource development.
▶ 0:50:11Mr. Haustveit: This experience post sparked a growing passion for energy and technology which led me to leading and energy ventures team. In this role our team had the privilege of investing in early-stage technologies rooted in fundamental science. Including a leading next-generation geothermal company with operations in nevada and a 500 megawatt development.
▶ 0:50:35Mr. Haustveit: Our team also conducted technical evaluations for innovative projects such as extraction from brian in arkansas and california, carbon capture utilization in wyoming, and produced water treatment and beneficial reuse in new mexico. These experiences have given me a front row seat to the incredible innovation happening in our energy industry across our resource rich nation.
▶ 0:51:00Mr. Haustveit: I have been blessed to build my career at during one of the most transformative periods in energy history, the shale revolution. The shale revolution brought about by industry and enabled by fundamental research from our tremendous national laboratories. This technological breakthrough moved to the U.S.
▶ 0:51:19Mr. Haustveit: In the world's largest importer of lng to the world's largest exporter, positioning us as a global leader in oil and natural gas production, transforming us from energy dependent. The energy industry has not only powered our nation but fueled economic growth, strengthen national security, and improve the quality of life for millions of americans and their allies around the world. The U.S.
▶ 0:51:49Mr. Haustveit: Natural gas is delivered affordable and secure energy and at the same time reduced emissions from electricity generation by more than 40%. It has been a privilege to contribute to this progress and I am passionately aligned with president trump's common energy agenda. An agenda that will assure huger generations have access to abundant energy made in america.
▶ 0:52:19Mr. Haustveit: If confirmed I will honor the fundamentals of science and economics to serve our country. I am committed to advancing policies that unleash U.S. energy dominance and ensure america remains a global leader in energy production and technology. If confirmed I will work to leverage the incredible talents within doe and our natural laboratories to move forward cutting edge research and development. It is the owner of a lifetime to contribute to the mission of the president and the secretary to fuel peace and prosperity through energy.
▶ 0:52:50Mr. Haustveit: Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:52:54Chair Lee: Thank you.
▶ 0:53:03Mr. Lacerte: Good morning. I am grateful for the opportunity to appear before you today. Thank you to president trump for re-nominating me to serve a full term on the federal energy regulatory commission and thank you you to the committee for your time. Thank you to my family who are at home today in louisiana. Public service can be a tremendous burden in this follows on their loved ones. Thank you for the grace you continue to give me while I serve the american people.
▶ 0:53:30Mr. Lacerte: I would like to speak to my accomplishments, my commitments made to you in the fall, and what you can see from me if I'm given the honor of serving a full term as commissioner. We proposed rulemakings to expand their successful pipeline certification program, both hydroelectric and liquefied natural gas facilities and prioritized cutting red tape to -- I want to pause on ellen g. Utilizing artifact -- on lng.
▶ 0:54:04Mr. Lacerte: Utilizing our vast natural resources is a political necessary to ensure our allies are fueled by reliable american energy. Critical is maintaining and developing a vast export infrastructure in the U.S., a mission-critical task I'm focused on achieving. I've also been very vocal about the need to de-clutter the commission's dockets. Seedings that linger for years create uncertainty for investors , delay critical infrastructure, and erode confidence in the regulatory process.
▶ 0:54:33Mr. Lacerte: I've supported action to remove outdated regulations and issue timely orders and I will continue striving for more efficient and discipline processes at work. We demonstrated our commitment to powering america's leadership in artificial intelligence while protecting ratepayers. This may be the defining competitive challenge of our generation. If we are not the world's leader in ai ir adversary shirley will be.
▶ 0:54:58Mr. Lacerte: We need to meet this moment and -- in ai our adversaries surely will be. We need to meet this moment. I recognize this represents the first step in a long road but I'm proud of the decisive action the commission took. At a time when energy demand is rising the commission is acting with focus and discipline urgency.
▶ 0:55:25Mr. Lacerte: Year to date we've issued a 2% more orders over the same time in 2025. Since I have joined the commission we have voted in nearly 300 proceedings and authorize the addition of 4.1 4 million daca thirds of natural gas capacity, enough to support electricity needs of 18 to 13 million americans households. That will accelerate as we focus our statutory jurisdiction.
▶ 0:55:54Mr. Lacerte: By focusing on this jurisdiction we are strengthening energy security for our nation. We made commitments to these senators about how I would approach the work and I welcome accountability for those commitments. In my first open meeting I stated plainly my duty is to the ratepayer. There are always those who curry favor. None of those people represent the ratepayer. I do. My commitment has not waivered. On and reliability I am all in.
▶ 0:56:27Mr. Lacerte: Growth must not be the expense of ordinary americans already concerned about their energy bills. It is our duty to fully protect ratepayers from undue cost and power american industry for low growth and re-industrialization. We can do both and we must do both. In the fall this body asked me to commit to resource neutrality as required by the law. I have demonstrated that commitment and I will continue to do so. This body also asked me to uphold ferc's independence.
▶ 0:56:57Mr. Lacerte: I will always uphold that commitment. Ferc's decisions are subject to judicial review by the courts and I will ensure those decisions are carried out in accordance with the law in the interest of the people. I will seek input from all stakeholders. Send decisions require broad engagement but consultation does not compromise independence. My duty is to the law and the statutory responsibilities entrusted to the commission.
▶ 0:57:26Mr. Lacerte: We have several monumental challenges facing our grid, any of which would be generational in nature. Confident we can power american innovation to see us through the challenges to the more efficient and more powerful and more affordable grid of tomorrow. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:57:42Chair Lee: Now we will hear from congressman pierce.
▶ 0:57:46Mr. Pearce: Chairman lee and mike couldn't -- and ranking member heinrich. Thank you chairman lee and ranking member heinrich for your leadership on this committee. I am deeply grateful for the support of my family and friends were with us today or watching on c-span. I want to recognize my strong and amazing wife cynthia, our daughter lori, our grandson preston and his wife erin.
▶ 0:58:16Mr. Pearce: I am honored to be nominated by president trump to serve as the director of the bureau of land management. Growing up in a large family on a small five acre farm, the prospect of conserving the land and water was instilled in me through necessity and refined by the training I received at 4h. I worked every holiday and summer in the oil fields pay for college.
▶ 0:58:40Mr. Pearce: In my junior year I won the draft lottery and got free flying lessons in all expatriates -- an all expense paid trip to vietnam. My first assignment was flying combat missions in vietnam. I earned a distinguished flying cross and multiple air medals and developed a love for veterans and aviation that exists today.
▶ 0:59:03Mr. Pearce: In 2016 while still a member of congress I flew my single engine aircraft solo, circumnavigating the globe in 13 days, dedicating the efforts of the warriors who never made it home. I continue to fly and work for veterans today. When I got back from vietnam I experienced the healing serenity of backpacking across the country. In 1981i married my wife cynthia and we bought a struggling oil service business and I learned the art of repairing oil wells.
▶ 0:59:36Mr. Pearce: Plumbers working 5000 defeat deep. Running a small business fit well with the values I was raised, work hard, treat others fairly, provide good customer service. We sold the business in 2003. I served seven terms representing new mexico, a majority minority district which was 34% registered republicans. The district is larger than the state of florida with about one third being federal land.
▶ 1:00:03Mr. Pearce: The second district divided many examples of what multiple use means. In another area oil and gas provide the jobs and another has natural parks and monuments. The district had forest wildfires and wilderness areas and was home to native american pueblos and chapter houses. Much of my life is life of service and I'm proud of that.
▶ 1:00:29Mr. Pearce: During my 14 years as a congressman I traveled the district extensively seeing the problems faced by my constituents who like my parents worked hard every day trying to provide for their families. I also saw what the founding fathers feared, a federal government acting as an absentee landlord instead of partnering with states and local communities rules over them.
▶ 1:00:51Mr. Pearce: After a devastating wildfire the forest service assigned local ranchers to my district to grazing land as far away as wyoming because the distance would have led to the extinction of small ranchers. My staff identify nearby allotments that have not been grazed for years. The agency initially stood its ground but ultimately cannot dispute the facts. The ranchers in the local economy survived.
▶ 1:01:18Mr. Pearce: I was gratified to include funding in the earlier appropriation process to clean out the settlement threatening the health in santa rosa, popular recreational spring in the new mexico desert. We got were the agency had repurposed those funds. I'm proud of my efforts to claw the funds back to clean out the spring for future generations.
▶ 1:01:39Mr. Pearce: These examples show my dedication to working with stakeholders in the federal government to ensure our land managers are making decisions based on local input in accordance with the law. If confirmed I intend to uphold the same principles as blm director and ensure local input is a key factor in my decision making. I have seen firsthand the importance of public land in support of those completely.
▶ 1:02:06Mr. Pearce: I met many dedicated public servants who make the federal agents work and they accomplish amazing things. When the chicken was at list of being endangered I worked with all of the stakeholders to establish a voluntary process to increase habitat and prevent a listing. I believe we can duplicate those efforts to solve not just endangered species but abandoned wells and many instant -- and many issues providing clean water.
▶ 1:02:35Mr. Pearce: President trump has proven we can achieve his vision of energy dominance by providing clean water and power and soil. We must preserve the natural spaces of all people have access to the spiritual beauty and where hunting and fishing can be passed down from one generation to the next, where critical minerals can be developed bring us from independence on china and native american lands and resources can be protected. The security and economic health of the western states, rests squarely on the shoulders of blm.
▶ 1:03:07Mr. Pearce: Local economies in the future generations depend on us doing our job right. Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 1:03:14Chair Lee: We will now begin our five-minute rounds of questions. Alternating between republicans and democrats in order of seniority subject to the earlybird rule. Assistant secretary haustveit, let's start with you. The state of utah has enormous geothermal potential. The office you currently lead at the department of energy funds geothermal research and development.
▶ 1:03:45Chair Lee: Can you talk about some of the exciting work that has been going on in that office, the one you currently lead that when it comes to developing and commercializing geothermal power at scale?
▶ 1:03:56Mr. Haustveit: Thank you for the question. To start with we share often that the problem statement for geothermal today is identical to that of the shale revolution 25 years ago. We have a vast resource in place that lacks natural permeability to produce commercial rates. That was the same problem statement for oil and gas 25 years ago. We solve that with horizontal wells and multistate stimulation .
▶ 1:04:23Mr. Haustveit: It is the same problem statement for geothermal today and one of the methods is external wells and multistage hydraulic fracking. A project in your home state was groundbreaking and provided critical drilling information which led to commercial leasing and now active development with 500 megawatt resource in southwest utah.
▶ 1:04:45Mr. Haustveit: Just this morning we announced the department's largest ever funding opportunity for geothermal, $171.5 million focused on reservoir characterization and pilot scale demonstrations. On the resource characterization, what is important about that is the western part of the country is not as well explored as many of the shale basins.
▶ 1:05:09Mr. Haustveit: The shale basins benefit because most conventional basins exist on top of an unconventional shale so we drilled through these resources for over 100 years. We lack that information in the west. That is one of the reasons are topic areas is to do exactly that, help support the industry and the risk the resources. Our goal is to take geothermal out of the other bucket.
▶ 1:05:36Mr. Haustveit: When we look at the energy stack we see a sliver of energy that sits on top of the primary energy sources. Our goal is to provide gigawatt scale power generation from the vast amounts of geothermal resources.
▶ 1:05:46Chair Lee: Your hope is that on those western lands that are not as well-known and have not been as thoroughly explored to help replicate some of that as to create the information necessary that would lead to more sales and more utilization for geothermal?
▶ 1:06:02Mr. Haustveit: That is correct.
▶ 1:06:05Chair Lee: Commissioner lacerte, natural gas is the backbone of the modern electric grid. Without access to plentiful supplies of natural gas at reasonable prices there would have been widespread outages across the east coast during the most recent winter storm. We do not have to go back more than a few days.
▶ 1:06:34Chair Lee: Looking back at your first few months as a member of ferc, how has ferc move the needle on clearing the backlog for natural gas pipelines and lng facilities?
▶ 1:06:48Mr. Lacerte: That is a great question. Thank you for acknowledging the work natural gas is done to keep the lights on in homes warm and say people's lives over the past several weeks. Most of the country had gone into an unprecedented deep-freeze where gas is done all of the heavy lifting. At fferc we have approved more gas in the first four months during my tenure here than we have in quite a while.
▶ 1:07:19Mr. Lacerte: We will continue to hold our states to the fire and make sure they are making the right decisions for a lot of generations. Quite frankly we need to focus more on natural gas as the reliable clean energy source that it is. You can see it moving up and down the east coast areas might have an abundant supply of natural gas through pipelines that fared much better than areas that do not.
▶ 1:07:47Mr. Lacerte: We think we are very blessed geologically in our country to employ these molecules, to put them to work and we need to do a better job of that across-the-board.
▶ 1:07:55Chair Lee: I completely agree to rate the pipeline infrastructure is essential. What do you see is the biggest obstacle threat and the progress on that front?
▶ 1:08:06Mr. Lacerte: We have struggled with the clean water act certification for quite a while. I do not believe one state should be able to hold hostage a region of the country to axis clean natural gas. That is an issue for you and I look forward to congress addressing that. Senator heinrich?
▶ 1:08:28Sen. Heinrich: Welcome to all of you. Congressman, I will start with you. When I look at the constituent communication with respect to your nomination there are two issues that dominate 90 plus percent of it. We discussed these yesterday. The first is the issue of the potential broad scale divestment of public lands.
▶ 1:09:00Sen. Heinrich: This came up with secretary bertram in his nomination. -- with secretary bergum in his nomination. He did a good job talking about that while it may be completely appropriate to divest certain isolated parcels of public land for affordable housing and other public purposes that there would not be a broad scale selling off of the public land.
▶ 1:09:27Sen. Heinrich: Because of some of your previous writings and statements there is a concern among new mexicans that a sale public land is on a broader scale might be part of the new blm agenda. Can you speak to that and maybe allay some of those concerns.
▶ 1:09:48Mr. Pearce: Thank you and I appreciate the chance to talk about this. The secretary has been very straightforward that he does not visualize any large-scale sales of land. Blm is not allowed to go in and have these large-scale sales. That is something the isolated parcels -- I would love to members of this committee to identify those.
▶ 1:10:16Mr. Pearce: From my time in office I know I would've understood better than any director of blm the sensitivity of this piece of land or that piece of land so that is the reason when I say I will look to you all on that. There is a monumental amount of work to be done and I would say gladly I would use the help you could provide in identifying those parcels.
▶ 1:10:45Mr. Pearce: To put it into context, when I first got to the state legislature los alamos lamps was trying to get five acres and they had been trying for years. I don't know if that has occurred today. When it did not occur than the community was forced to move 20 miles down a mountain and form a community there where people could afford to live. In the wintertime we would lose two to three people who worked at the labs every year.
▶ 1:11:13Mr. Pearce: It is that kind of restrictive holding that we are meant to address.
▶ 1:11:17Sen. Heinrich: That is where the focus should be.
▶ 1:11:20Mr. Pearce: I look to you to provide that focus for the agency.
▶ 1:11:24Sen. Heinrich: The other issues and I have respondents from a number of las cruces city counselors, county commissioners and state representatives and senators in southern new mexico as well as conservation district members is the issue of the future of the organ mountains desert peaks national monument. I know there is a lot of water under the bridge on that issue between both of us.
▶ 1:11:53Sen. Heinrich: What would you say to those elected officials about your approach with respect to the monument?
▶ 1:11:59Mr. Pearce: Thanks for the opportunity to clarify that. That issue was very hotly contested in the county for about 15 years. Eventually it was designated by executive order. I very rarely look in the rearview mirror. Looking at this job and the amount of work ahead of us, I do not anticipate going back and reviewing that. At the end of the day as a presidential decision anyway.
▶ 1:12:28Mr. Pearce: I don't view myself as making a recommendation. There is too much ahead of us to get done to focus on things that have happened in the past.
▶ 1:12:38Sen. Heinrich: I appreciate that and I also want to say how much I appreciate your interest in orphan wells and abandoned mines . That is a place I think we can really build bipartisan support for that kind of work and I look forward to continuing that conversation with you. I will switch now to Mr. haustveit. I will ask the same question I asked your predecessor during his hearing about a year ago.
▶ 1:13:08Sen. Heinrich: Would you agree that in this environment of increased demand, probably the most increased demand we have seen since the invention of the air conditioner , that we need an energy strategy that is focused on rapidly expanding production from all available sources including things like renewables and storage?
▶ 1:13:28Mr. Haustveit: Thank you for the question. As we have seen in the last month or so it is critical we prioritize reliability. We have seen with a winter storm that when people need lights they need heat. We need to make sure we have the energy forms available to deploy on the grid. Not all energy is created equally and not all energy type should be deployed across every region of the U.S.
▶ 1:14:00Mr. Haustveit: Best and above prioritize reliability and affordability to make sure we take care of american citizens.
▶ 1:14:05Sen. Heinrich: I would agree with you that reliability is nonnegotiable. I would point out we've been able to develop a grid in new mexico that is incredibly clean and more reliable than most in the country and yet also produces energy at a price per kilowatt hour that is a lot lower than many places around the country. I hope we can continue to see that kind of progress.
▶ 1:14:32Mr. Haustveit: I look forward to working together.
▶ 1:14:36Chair Lee: Senator barrasso.
▶ 1:14:40Sen. Barrasso: Congratulations to all three of you. We worked together and we spoke in my office specifically about the blm and critical role it plays in the lifeblood of the economy of the state of wyoming. When we had the nomination hearing for secretary bertram, I asked a series of questions about blm and decisions related to wyoming.
▶ 1:15:09Sen. Barrasso: I will ask you similar questions about my home state. This specifically -- we talked about the rock springs rmp, resource management plan. We spoke about it and it was something that the last administration came out with, rejected any input from the state of wyoming, accepted, thrown around the world, including apparently some from bots from china and something the last administration was promoting, the locked up millions of acres of land local
▶ 1:15:40Sen. Barrasso: Communities and the state relies upon. The governor, the state legislature, county commissioners, local communities strongly opposed the plan. Will you commit to working with my office and the state of wyoming to amend what I believe is a disastrous plan? >> absolutely, senator. One element of any plan is local input. Custom and culture's number of people that live in an area, not the people in washington.
▶ 1:16:08Sen. Barrasso: You talk about the people that live locally, we are fortunate in wyoming to have field offices for the bureau of land management the router state. This allows the federal agency to serve the rural communities and many offices are located near the natural resources all across the state where they have oversight. The field offices are located in the more rural areas, directly near the agriculture and energy interest in industries.
▶ 1:16:38Sen. Barrasso: Buffalo, cody, newcastle, pinedale. I'm hearing from leaders who would like to make sure there is a certainty for the next few years in terms of field offices staying in these communities. Would you be willing to commit to working with my office to ensure longevity for our wyoming field offices?
▶ 1:16:54Mr. Pearce: Absolutely, senator. My county is one of the highest oil producing counties in the nation. We recognize the importance of having a close by office to we can take questions and get answers. I absolutely commit to working on that.
▶ 1:17:08Sen. Barrasso: Earlier this month you appear to the house energy and commerce committee hearing. You stated that a big part of permitting delays result from permitting decisions that take too long and the leveraging of judicial review to create uncertainty. Fear, uncertainty and doubt stop things. Delay is not the currency of once was.
▶ 1:17:37Sen. Barrasso: In your view what are the biggest obstacles to a more stable and timely permitting process?
▶ 1:17:41Mr. Lacerte: Thank you for the question. The supreme court went a long way with the unanimous decision last year. The unanimous nature of their decision speaks to the bipartisan nature of that nip a has been used to block projects rather than review projects. That is step one. We need to identify the time is now to take action.
▶ 1:18:10Mr. Lacerte: We have been sitting on projects for too long, whether it is permitting. We you do a better job collaborating with our states department, site and bill generation, do a better job of building and progressing the interstate pipelines and doing all of the above. We need to do everything. It is down to one issue, one fact pattern is foolish.
▶ 1:18:34Sen. Barrasso: The steps you have taken?
▶ 1:18:37Mr. Lacerte: We have right sized our process which is ongoing and continuous. The work is not a magic bullet. We will get more efficient and effective and continue with projects faster. A lot of things have languished over time. Looking at the docket and what is in our jurisdiction and what is not. All these things are going to enable us to narrowly focus, you staff more wisely and get projects built.
▶ 1:19:08Chair Lee: Senator wyden.
▶ 1:19:12Sen. Wyden: We don't know each other and I have not had a chance to visit. I look at documents, public documents and what I have seen with your views to selling off public lands does not square with what I heard you say to my colleague here. I want to ask about these comments.
▶ 1:19:36Sen. Wyden: You said with respect to public land located in western states -- I'm a westerner -- he said, "most of it we do not even need." my question to you then is, is there too much public land in the west now in your view? That is a direct quote that you made a connection with some leadership matters previously.
▶ 1:20:07Sen. Wyden: Tell me how we square those two views. That is a very blunt statement with respect to public land in my state and in the west. "most of it we do not even need." is that something you said some time ago and you no longer believe?
▶ 1:20:25Mr. Pearce: Thank you, senator.
▶ 1:20:29Sen. Wyden: One second. I would ask we put into the record some of the specifics I'm asking.
▶ 1:20:36Chair Lee: Without objection.
▶ 1:20:38Mr. Pearce: Thank you for the question and I look forward to visiting with you in your office and getting to know you and your state more personally. The statement made was when I was representing as a legislative person a district at odds with federal agencies many times because of the management of the lands is sometimes not as well-done as it should be and local people pay the price.
▶ 1:21:08Mr. Pearce: To costs jobs, careers, their land. I spoke of those frustrations. As I expressed to senator heinrich, I don't visualize selling large swaths of land.
▶ 1:21:23Sen. Wyden: You no longer agree with the statement you made years ago that I quoted you one? People can change their mind. I get that. Do you continue to hold of you or have you changed your mind about something? We are westerners and we care about these kind of things.
▶ 1:21:43Mr. Pearce: I'm not so sure I have changed. I'm not sure I was not speaking out of sheer frustration with an agency on behalf of the people who were being overwhelmed. I do not believe we are going to go out and wholesale land from the government. That has been stated by the secretary and federal law says we can't do that from the blm itself.
▶ 1:22:06Sen. Wyden: With respect to that, it is hard for us to be able in the west to trust someone who fundamentally does not believe these public lands are important. I know you answered my colleague to the effect, well, you might not be able to do all the things some people care about but you will be in a position of great influence. I want to know.
▶ 1:22:37Sen. Wyden: Someone says that really was extreme. I don't believe that anymore. What you said to me just now is I'm kind of frustrated about it. We will try to work something out now. I think we have got to do better.
▶ 1:22:51Mr. Pearce: I absolutely believe in the public lands and public lands missions. One of the most important things in my personal life was the hikes. We would go to tucson and my granddaughter was about five or six. She was the only one who would get up early and say I will go walk at 5:00 if you want to go with me. That was a special time.
▶ 1:23:22Mr. Pearce: I recognize the importance of the federal lands and support the missions completely. I do not believe we have too much federal land sitting in public hands. To creates great stress in the west to have these lands managed from washington. That I do know.
▶ 1:23:37Sen. Wyden: That indicates you are changing your view so I will have more conversation. If you are, that's a different story. These are treasures and I look at your career and these documents because we did not know each other and you made a career supporting selling off public lands. I want to know if you are changing your position in the door will be open to talk further.
▶ 1:24:02Chair Lee: It's important for us to remember current federal law does not allow this, the mass sale of federal public lands. Absent an act of congress authorizing such a thing the question is moot. Congressman pierce noted repeatedly and as acknowledged he will follow along.
▶ 1:24:28Sen. Wyden: I had about 10 more seconds. My concern is that when we have these smaller parcels, like which can be sold, that is what concerns me and I look forward to continuing the conversation.
▶ 1:24:43Chair Lee: Senator risch. >> thank you for meeting with me later today. We have the advantage of you having performed and I hear nothing but good things and I look forward to talking with you. Mr. lacerte, same thing with you. You had a year and I have heard nothing but good things about your service.
▶ 1:25:08Chair Lee: It is always good to have this when we are voting on the confirmation to see -- to have a background where people have served in that position. Both of you, thank you for your service. Mr. pearce, thank you for meeting with me. I am a one issue guy on your appointment. I want to stress for people watching today we are talking about a job you were appointed to to manage the blm.
▶ 1:25:40Chair Lee: I stress manage the blm. The policy regarding the blm is the purview of this body in the body you were formerly served in. Do you agree on that?
▶ 1:25:52Mr. Pearce: I do.
▶ 1:25:53Sen. Risch: We had a good discussion along the lines of what senator lee underscore. There's no authority for the president to sell off public lands. Do you agree with that?
▶ 1:26:12Mr. Pearce: I agree with that, senator.
▶ 1:26:13Sen. Risch: This is a 98% issue in idaho. It all my decades of serving the state I have never received such passionate and unified messages as I have on this particular topic. Idahoans don't want public lands sold,. Full stop. They are sacred to us.
▶ 1:26:38Sen. Risch: Any hint that could happen really raises the ire of idaho people. It is more than that. It is personal to me. My undergraduate degree was in forestry. Range management and wildlife management. I did that because I love public lands so it is personal to me. Some experience we've had.
▶ 1:27:05Sen. Risch: Although not widespread, the examples were very concerning to us. For years and years, two thirds of idaho is owned by the federal government and managed by the forest service or blm. For years and years -- most notoriously was part in boise cascade.
▶ 1:27:34Sen. Risch: You did not know if you are on a piece of forest service land or piece of their land. As you know, they went to the reorganizations and the blocks of land changed hands and went to the private sector for people outside the state. We wound up with gaetz, fences, no trespassing signs. This is incredibly upsetting to people who have used a piece of land for opening day of elk season for generations.
▶ 1:28:05Sen. Risch: Now they couldn't. That was not widespread but it gave us a glimpse as to what could happen and possibly would happen if the lands were sold off. We are out. We don't want that. We don't want anything to do with that.
▶ 1:28:24Sen. Risch: I appreciate your statement to me and I hope you will stated publicly you understand the job you are being appointed to regards the management of these public lands, which I think you work very qualified to do. As far as a wholesale selloff, you have nothing to do about it no matter what you thought about it.
▶ 1:28:45Sen. Risch: There would be no way you could get this done without the concurrence of the united states congress, which I can tell you is extremely unlikely at this point. Your thoughts?
▶ 1:28:58Mr. Pearce: I appreciate the time we were able to spend in your office and I came away with a clear understanding of your position. It is one of the points I made a senator heinrich. When it comes to distribution of land I look to you all to provide the groundwork. You will know your parcels of land much better than people in washington. That is my commitment to you. We will work and follow the law completely.
▶ 1:29:26Sen. Risch: We appreciate that. So there is a clear understanding, this isolated parcels, small parcels sometimes needed for hospitals and schools or what have you, this committee -- I have been on it and it has approved I think thousands of those over the years. They are very small pieces and I have never seen a wholesale selloff of a large tract of land.
▶ 1:29:54Sen. Risch: I know of no suggestions right now that should happen. I appreciate your understanding that you managed to land in this other issue, which is a huge issue, is not what we will have to be worried about at this time. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:30:13Chair Lee: Senator king.
▶ 1:30:15Sen. King: I'm sure it feels weird to be on the side of the dais.
▶ 1:30:23Mr. Pearce: A little strange but we are holding up.
▶ 1:30:26Sen. King: I'm changing to energy. The public lands have a energy potential and a host of various. The administration seems to have made a decision that fossil fuel extraction on public lands is ok. Renewables not so much. There's no rule that every renewable project, whether wind or solar, has a good record to the secretary for his approval. This is not a this is not apply to fossil fuel plants.
▶ 1:30:56Sen. King: We are facing a 2% a year increase in demand, which is unprecedented, compounded in 10 years up to 30% increase in demand. How are we going to get there by eliminating a significant source of energy from consideration?
▶ 1:31:16Sen. King: How will people feel on your side of the fence in 2, 4, 6, eight years when it is reversed and all fossil fuel plants have to go through some kind of special extra review the never results in any permits? I would be fine if we were talking we will review project reviews on public land.
▶ 1:31:39Sen. King: To say it only reviewing renewable plants strikes is not in the public interest because we need the electricity and it establishes a terrible precedent for the federal evenhanded regulation of energy sources.
▶ 1:31:54Mr. Pearce: I appreciate the question. The answer comes down to the fact that I will be working for the president and for the secretary. That does not mean I won't visit with you to figure out what your issues are.
▶ 1:32:12Sen. King: We are talking about development on public lands. I presume someone will ask your opinion. Is it a good idea to basically say we can do one kind of development on public lands and not another? By the way, is there any legal authority for that kind of distinction?
▶ 1:32:30Mr. Pearce: I am not yet in the position and don't have access to all the information that is there. It's a conversation I'm willing to have with you and the administration. I don't know the rationale and the law regarding it. I would be happy to investigate that to its flows.
▶ 1:32:47Sen. King: The prior administration had different policies and I'm calling it the whiplash effect. The law and procedure and rules and regulations changed dramatically from one administration to the other. Business doesn't have the confidence to invest, because when you are talking about a multimillion dollar or billion-dollar investment into an energy facility you need to know the rules will be the same when you get to the end of the process.
▶ 1:33:16Sen. King: I hope you will take this into consideration. I will be pursuing the question of what is the legal authority the secretary has to a review for certain kinds of energy projects and not for some others. Mr. lacerte, I want to thank you because you kept your promise. You have worked in the prior month's in a bipartisan way.
▶ 1:33:46Sen. King: I think it is working very effectively. You have met the representations you made here before -- when you were here before. The energy demand is not only on the capacity side but also on the grid side. We will need huge investments in the expansion of the capacity of the grid. We need to use the grid more efficiently. The grid is like a church that is built only for christmas and easter.
▶ 1:34:15Sen. King: There are a lot of empty pews in february and june. We have got to figure out how to use this thing more efficiently rather than dumping in billions of dollars which will go right to the ratepayers. Technologies that will enable us to increase the throughput of the grid without new poles, new rights-of-way. Also dynamic line rating.
▶ 1:34:44Sen. King: I hope this is a priority because you said a few minutes ago and I loved it when you said it that I represent the ratepayers. As you know, transmission and distribution is now 50% of most electric bills. I remember when it was 25% to 30% and it's getting higher. Tell me how you feel about gets. Grid enhancing technologies.
▶ 1:35:09Mr. Pearce: I sit --
▶ 1:35:12Mr. Lacerte: I sit in the church pews. I think you are right. We need to squeeze every megawatt of the existing grid we can. Whether that is dynamic ratings or enhancing technologies of any type. I cannot endorse one over another. We need to be efficient with the grid we have in addition to building new transmission. You will see more for me in the coming months in that regard.
▶ 1:35:36Sen. King: I'm out of time but Mr. haustveit, what I'm concerned with is you don't have to answer this, cyber. Caesar is part of your jurisdiction and I'm worried when you talk about the gas pipeline. The work I have that indicates the gas pipeline system is quite vulnerable. I can tell you to a certainty china right now is trying to penetrate those systems on our gas pipelines.
▶ 1:36:05Sen. King: I hope this will be a point of emphasis for you and you will restore whatever staff at caesar because you are on the front lines of our country being under attack. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:36:15Chair Lee: Senator murkowski.
▶ 1:36:19Sen. Murkowski: Thank you for being here this morning and your willingness to serve. I appreciate each of you. Congressman pierce, I appreciated our meeting in the last several weeks back. Good to reconnect with you. As I mentioned in my office, when you are confirmed you will be spending a lot of time focusing on alaska issues, not just because we are special but we have more blm land than anybody else out there.
▶ 1:36:50Sen. Murkowski: My friends talk about what it means in their state, very important but you will find this is a significant part of your portfolio. We are counting on you to help us with restoring the balance we talk about within our land management plans. We had good news. Finally with the lifting of the public land order 5150 and 5180.
▶ 1:37:21Sen. Murkowski: Assistant secretary, I appreciate your willingness to step into this role at doe. I am sure you have this aperture, this view of the department but I want to reinforce it. It is about working to commercialize new resources and technologies so we are always pushing to build out our new supplies.
▶ 1:37:46Sen. Murkowski: We recognize that everything will be perfect, not everything is commercially viable now but that is why we have the doe, to get them there. It doesn't help when the administration decides they will say these resources are good, these are bad, they pull permits in their funding. It is pushing on the innovation side. Commissioner, you were here last fall. You know how strongly I feel about having a full complement.
▶ 1:38:17Sen. Murkowski: You guys have a tough job and you need all of you there. We are in a little bit of a different place in alaska because we don't have the interstate grid but we have a range of issues we will be asking you to weigh in on and I'm hoping to be able to ask a question in that regard. Let me turn to you, congressman pierce.
▶ 1:38:44Sen. Murkowski: There's been discussion about what is going on with public lands. We have been fighting mightily for years now to deliver on promises made to her alaska native veterans at the time of lent selections. Those serving in vietnam were not able to get there selections. -- their selections.
▶ 1:39:08Sen. Murkowski: This requires not only the opportunity for expanded land availability but also timely processing along the way. Timely processing requires people. There is so much in the blm space that requires you to be able to move permits and do reviews. When you don't have the men and women that are doing that it makes it really hard to do the job.
▶ 1:39:37Sen. Murkowski: I will ask you to commit to prioritizing adequate staffing within the blm offices. I'm looking at the alaska state offices. We have a big mandate under the president's day one alaska order. You can't do that as head of blm unless you have the folks. Just asking for your commitment on that.
▶ 1:40:00Mr. Pearce: I will be happy to work with you and visit personally those field offices and to look specifically at the issue of native american veterans. Like I said in my statement, and 2016, I flew a small airplane around the world committing it to those who did not make it back from vietnam. There is still a hole in my heart for those who did not make it.
▶ 1:40:29Mr. Pearce: I will pay special attention to that issue and I look forward to working with you.
▶ 1:40:32Sen. Murkowski: I invite each of you to join us in alaska. You always earn a lot when you make the trip. Assistant secretary, I want to ask you, because there are offices within the department of energy we pay particular attention to. I felt the office of indian energy can do more in terms of financing tools, leveraging to support rural and alaska native communities.
▶ 1:41:03Sen. Murkowski: Equally important is the arctic energy office. That has been elevated from the office of science to now sitting under the purview of s3. That will be you. Can you share with me your views on the office of indian energy and what do you think of the arctic energy office? Is it a valuable part of doe?
▶ 1:41:29Mr. Haustveit: Both offices are critical. We went to a realignment in november and emphasized those offices. I am proud to have the opportunity to work with those individuals if confirmed, to partner with alaskans, to partner with native americans across the country. There is tremendous opportunity can you or state across the lower 48 as well.
▶ 1:41:49Sen. Murkowski: I look forward to working with you on that. Mr. chairman, I have a quick follow-up for commissioner l acerte relating to the natural gas pipeline proposal.
▶ 1:42:04Sen. Murkowski: Ferc has already done the work but there is a great deal of conversation about the potential for a spur line to the second largest community in the state, fairbanks, and how ferc can ensure there is the potential for that. I recognize amount of time. I would like to have that conversation with you later, perhaps off-line. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:42:31Chair Lee: Senator cortez masto.
▶ 1:42:35Sen. Cortez Masto: To the nominees, congratulations and welcome to all of your family members here. Mr. haustveit, thank you for meeting with me in my office. Congressman pierce, I will probably talk mostly to you. And this is why. In nevada, over 80% is managed by the federal government and 63% is the blm.
▶ 1:43:01Sen. Cortez Masto: The economic vibrancy of our state relies on a good relationship with the federal government in clear, immediate answers on management decisions working with our state. One of the areas I want to talk about is in nevada years ago we passed the southern nevada public lands management act, a piece of legislation that the secretary has praised as well.
▶ 1:43:27Sen. Cortez Masto: This is a model for land disposal like states in the west where there's a lot of federal land. It prioritizes disposal through a process that targets parcels based on local need and utilizes land sale revenue for conservation for infrastructure, for recreation, education in the state in which the land sales took place.
▶ 1:43:55Sen. Cortez Masto: I have introduced legislation to expand that disposal boundary to the benefit of my states for economic development, for conservation, for housing in a number of things. My question is, will you support community-driven legislation like the other nevada lands bill that facilitates very specific disposal of land identified by local officials for housing and economic development?
▶ 1:44:20Rep. Pearce: Senator, thank you for the question and for the time you spent in your office. It was very instructive and help me understand a state that is more federally owned than ours. Yes, I have read the comments from you and from the previous senator about the economic boom occurring on the land that had little value in the hands of the federal government.
▶ 1:44:45Rep. Pearce: I am not familiar with the expansion you are talking about but I would say I will follow closely in the issue to where you stand. I have not looked at it enough. I would be happy to work with you.
▶ 1:44:58Sen. Cortez Masto: Based on your experience in new mexico dealing with the land, it is important that locals are part of the conversation in the federal government pays attention.
▶ 1:45:09Rep. Pearce: It is. In las cruces, we are building houses on some of the most fertile rio grande valley land, taking it out of farming use when less than half a mile away there is just rangeland that is currently unused by the federal government. We never got that transition done. We attempted it. I think I was 40 acres. We could never get it done.
▶ 1:45:38Rep. Pearce: I have said multiple times I will work with every member of the committee in their state. I don't visualize the federal government having the best insight on that.
▶ 1:45:48Sen. Cortez Masto: One thing I did not talk about when we were meeting, the question is pretty simple. We have seen this in nevada. If a rancher is grazing cattle illegally on federal land, how would you handle that?
▶ 1:46:01Rep. Pearce: If they are grazing illegally? I think the laws will be upheld and we should dig into that. Again, they are pieces of the agency which deal with that. Absolutely I believe permission has to be given. When a landholder, be it personal or federal, the permission has to be sacred.
▶ 1:46:27Sen. Cortez Masto: Let me touch on something senator king talked about and we talked about this as well. In nevada, we currently produce 41% through renewable resources. Most of that is solar. The industry is roughly 30,000 jobs, which is more per capita than any other industry. It's a $13.3 billion investment.
▶ 1:46:51Sen. Cortez Masto: The problem now is that the secretary issued a minimum on -- memo on july 15 that requires every permitting decision point from wind or solar projects to be elevated and decided by him. That is essentially frozen all of our projects and stopped solar in the state of nevada.
▶ 1:47:14Sen. Cortez Masto: Wouldn't you agree the administration should be evaluating potential public land uses objectively for the highest of resources rather than making it a determination on energy preferences?
▶ 1:47:27Rep. Pearce: Senator, that is a similar issue to what senator king brought up. I am unfamiliar with the order and frankly have had very little discussion with the secretary up to this point on any issue. Even less with the president. I suspect it is a conversation we will have. I will seek understanding and be working with you to get your questions specifically on that.
▶ 1:47:52Sen. Cortez Masto: Let me just do one final thing here. Resource management plan, statewide. I have been asking the department for this for this very reason. The federal government owns so much land, there has to be a partnership and resource management plan taking into consideration stakeholders and tribes and working together. I hope when you get in this position you are willing to work with us on updating our resource management plan statewide for the state of nevada.
▶ 1:48:22Sen. Cortez Masto: That is to the best interest of both people in the state that also federal government.
▶ 1:48:27Rep. Pearce: Senator heinrich mentioned we had tremendous outreach into every community in the second district and I would visualize the same effort going into the states. You would find me a willing partner. That is the voice we have got to protect, their economy, their life, their homes, their culture and customs.
▶ 1:48:54Rep. Pearce: Those are things I am deeply sensitive to, whether native american land or just your average mountain community or whatever. Yes, I would commit strongly to that.
▶ 1:49:04Sen. Cortez Masto: Thank you.
▶ 1:49:05Chair Lee: Senator daines.
▶ 1:49:08Sen. Daines: I want to give a heartfelt thanks to each of you and your willingness to serve in these very important roles. I look forward to working with each of you once you are confirmed. It is great to have a butte grad here. It is not butte, montana. It is butte, america.
▶ 1:49:35Sen. Daines: It's a great institution and I'm pleased to have.that dna here in washington . Congressman pearce, we served in the house when I first came as a freshman in 2013. We served on behalf of two great western states, new mexico and montana.
▶ 1:49:55Sen. Daines: During those years that you served in the house he sponsored a number of natural resources bills, including those that sought to serve the interest of tribes, ranchers, red creationists -- recreationists. The act directed a portion of the land and water conservation funds for increasing public access for hunting, fishing and recreational shooting.
▶ 1:50:23Sen. Daines: In montana, where we are famous for a lot of things but the movie "a river runs through it" where brad pitt discovered flyfishing and ruined it for the rest of us, 70 5% of our fishing access -- I've had a fly rod in my hand since I was 11 years old from my grandpa growing up in montana. 75% of the fishing access sites were funded by lbcf.
▶ 1:50:55Sen. Daines: It has been successfully used on lock access to public lands that prior were inaccessible due to checkerboard land ownership. Under president trump we permanently authorized and funded lwcbf.
▶ 1:51:20Sen. Daines: If confirmed, will you support expanding hunting, fishing, recreation access on blm land through the lwcbf program?
▶ 1:51:32Rep. Pearce: Absolutely.
▶ 1:51:33Sen. Daines: We had a great conversation about the need for forest management when you stopped by my office. The need for reforms as relates to forest management. Blm manages 1.3 million acres of forest land in montana and the dakotas. Simple projects get bogged down in red tape and sadly in this litigation. We are making progress in helping to remedy that.
▶ 1:52:03Sen. Daines: I have a bill that will fix that ninth circuit court cottonwood decision. It has passed by voice so we have strong support and it's included in the fix our forest act. Congressman pierce, do you agree we need to increase the pace and scale of the forest management on blm lands and pass reforms like the cottonwood fix, the stem act and the fix our forest act?
▶ 1:52:32Rep. Pearce: Absolutely. In new mexico, we had forest in my district that was about one million acres and they were cleaning up and taking out the fuels for 500 acres a year. You would never get to the end. I visited with members on both sides about the need to go in and aggressively remove the fuels. If we do that, we will increase the water supply in the west which is always a problem.
▶ 1:53:03Rep. Pearce: Every treat uses a certain amount of water that should be percolating down into the aquifers to recharge the streams and springs. Those large-scale thinning projects of tens of thousands of acres and set of acres is something I visualize but I say it will take the backing of this committee to do those large projects. It is a sensitive political issue. People say we will clear cut.
▶ 1:53:33Rep. Pearce: I never think we will do that but we need to aggressively thin .
▶ 1:53:37Sen. Daines: We have seen remarkable outcomes from proper thinning of our forest. They are pulling water out. They grow that faster. See springs that you never knew existed. It is quite remarkable what happens to the ecosystem when you do proper forest management. Wildlife habitat and reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Jobs for loggers and sawmills which is also an endangered species now in montana.
▶ 1:54:09Sen. Daines: When I was a kid we had 30 active sawmills. We are down to just a handful because of the loss of access.
▶ 1:54:14Rep. Pearce: We have experienced the same thing in southern new mexico. A raging fire was on the lincoln national forest near ruidoso. The mescalero indians of a force that puts up a it and the fire dropped down to became a grass fire. Because they had clean there's they didn't have to go through the same -- they were able to do it.
▶ 1:54:41Rep. Pearce: This causes local communities to say there is hope when they see members of the senate on both sides saying let's get after it and start cleaning up our environment.
▶ 1:54:49Sen. Daines: This is becoming increasingly very bipartisan. Fire knows no boundaries. I have a few more questions but I will submit this for the record. Thank you.
▶ 1:55:00Chair Lee: Senator padilla. >> I think both you and the ranking member for organizing this hearing. Mr. pierce, I appreciate the time we were able to spend in my office yesterday. I will echo some of the concerns and sentiments some of my colleagues have raised about public lands.
▶ 1:55:28Chair Lee: It is a bipartisan -- senator risch was impassioned earlier today. From a california perspective, the bureau of land manages manages 15% of california's land. It is critical for us that blm and the blm director maintain these lands for future generations to enjoy and not just sell them to the highest bidder.
▶ 1:55:54Chair Lee: These blm plans include truck while a national monument. For years I worked with numerous tribal leaders who led the effort to protect the natural resources in that area and promote access to what is now chukwalla.
▶ 1:56:18Chair Lee: It took into account the input from stakeholders, conservationists, utilities, tribal leaders, hunters, recreation groups and others and we ended up with universal local support from the state and bipartisan support here in the senate and in congress.
▶ 1:56:42Chair Lee: As one of the outcomes of that, five tribes formed in intertribal commission to solidify their commitment to protecting sacred lands. My question is simple. If confirmed, are you committed to honoring these designations, yes or no?
▶ 1:57:02Rep. Pearce: Yes.
▶ 1:57:03Sen. Padilla: That's a great answer. Short, clear, concise and on the record. I appreciate you maintaining the protections and I want to work with you to arrange a meeting with you and the members of the intertribal commission so you can learn about chuckwalla. I don't expect you to be an expert on day one. Is that a meeting you will commit to have confirmed?
▶ 1:57:28Rep. Pearce: Say that again?
▶ 1:57:31Sen. Padilla: The meeting with the tribal commission that has been formed now that the monument designation has been finalized.
▶ 1:57:36Rep. Pearce: We had multiple pueblos, apache tribes and navajos. We worked extremely closely with all of them to accomplish objectives they were looking for on their lands. I would visualize a similar. The native americans are overlooked from washington and--
▶ 1:58:00Sen. Padilla: Far too often.
▶ 1:58:03Rep. Pearce: We became a voice with them and will continue to do that.
▶ 1:58:06Sen. Padilla: We talked about substantive consultation, not just the checking of a box that has happened over the course of history. My question is for Mr. lacerte. Ferc has taken action to speed up large load interconnections to the existing grid.
▶ 1:58:26Sen. Padilla: While load flexibility and co-location can be valuable tools for maximizing the use of our existing grid, they are no substitute for smart investment to ensure future reliability. Tell me if you disagree. To be smart you need a plan. As electricity demand continues to rise, ferc do you believe should support long-term regional transmission plans?
▶ 1:58:55Mr. Lacerte: Absolutely. Far too often in the past I think we could have tightened some screws on some of the plannings done regionally, into regionally at the state level. It is important we squeeze every possible watt at of the existing grid we have and that means more diligent proper planning and taking a harder look at the decisions before us.
▶ 1:59:18Sen. Padilla: Thank you for that. I have less than a minute left. I will be submitting a couple of additional questions before the record -- for the record. One of those questions and concerns will be staffing cuts. We are serving in administration, whether through the budget process where the doge process, there has been funding cuts in a lot of places.
▶ 1:59:47Sen. Padilla: Staffing cuts in a lot of places in the federal government with increasing demand on the services and guidance these departments and agencies are meant to provide. How we were supposed to achieve that going forward limited resources. I look forward to an ongoing conversation with you.
▶ 2:00:05Chair Lee: Senator cassidy.
▶ 2:00:09Sen. Cassidy: Thank you. Mr. haustveit, louisiana has a big meta ai center and is another announced with amazon. In both cases they committed to building this efficient power generation so as not to raise rates. The president say we should not be raising rates and said these data centers should.
▶ 2:00:39Sen. Cassidy: How do you ensure that? How do you make sure they are carrying their weight? There will be a lot of transmission line upgrade required for this. The second part is how do we get the permitting through so that as they do carry the weight in terms of generation we have the transmission capability to make it happen?
▶ 2:01:02Mr. Lacerte: Thank you for the question, senator. We have a president who is an incredible dealmaker. He has negotiated the deals with the largest hyperscalers. You'll see highlighted at the state of the union last night focusing on not only bringing their own power to provide with the need for their hyperscalers, more than enough so we can have a downward price pressure for residential consumers. Working with the developers is key. We need to win the ai race.
▶ 2:01:32Mr. Lacerte: These data centers and power generation bills provide jobs.
▶ 2:01:35Sen. Cassidy: Behind the meter you will have sufficient generation but sometimes you will have to transmit electrons from the panhandle of oklahoma to northwest louisiana. That will require transmission lines. Transmission has been difficult to get done. Any thoughts on that?
▶ 2:01:52Mr. Haustveit: It depends on where we are at. There are different solutions for different regions. The same dealmaking will be done for transmission as well. The president is committed to avoiding putting any upward pressure on rates to consumers due to data centers. We want to support the buildout.
▶ 2:02:12Sen. Cassidy: I will go back to the practical nature. It is difficult to get large transmission lines done. He can take a decade or more I'm told. Mr. lacerte, any thoughts on the
▶ 2:02:24Question Mark Mr. Lacerte: We could probably talk for weeks on end about this issue.
▶ 2:02:30Sen. Cassidy: I have two minutes left. [laughter]
▶ 2:02:32Mr. Lacerte: We have to give flexibility to the entities that have earned the trust and respect to have those flexibilities. We need to build safe guards to make sure consumers are protected. That is why in my first two months on the job we committed to an order with pjm that allows for new transmission in the past 20 years, called furman 20 years, called furirm and non-firm load command.
▶ 2:03:02Mr. Lacerte: It will reduce the meta-transition required to serve the load. It is a partnership with the states.
▶ 2:03:07Sen. Cassidy: If you have load which is distant from the user, we will need the transmission line and that has been hard to do.
▶ 2:03:15Mr. Lacerte: It has been but it has been thrown out of whack because of the early retirement of baseload power and overreliance on renewables. That is why we have many areas that transmit load over a large square mileage. That increases the cost. You have to build a high-capacity transmission from one area to another. It is vitally important as we go to the west like california with spp. Co-locating load makes practical sense.
▶ 2:03:45Mr. Lacerte: I understand it is on a rehearing. That is a vital step.
▶ 2:03:51Sen. Cassidy: Mr. haustveit, the supreme court seems to have closed the door on ieepa terrace with the president was to continue to use terrace to protect american businesses -- tariffs to protect american businesses and american workers. China arbitrage organ ignore environment allows lower the cost of manufacturing. As much as by 20%. We lose the jobs but the pollution goes over on our country.
▶ 2:04:23Sen. Cassidy: I propose the foreign pollution fee that would be roughly equal to the avoided cost of complying with environmental regulations to be tacked on any good that is polluting coming from a place like china. Any thoughts on?
▶ 2:04:35Mr. Haustveit: The president's tariff plan has been wildly successful. We have met with countless companies who told us --
▶ 2:04:42Sen. Cassidy: I have 30 seconds.
▶ 2:04:44Mr. Haustveit: They are building here because of that. The president solving the solution by re-industrializing in the united states. I hope your plan is a moot point and we industrialize in the united states and build what we need.
▶ 2:04:57Sen. Cassidy: It seems they have incentivized them to build here but now the tariffs are gone. I am promoting a congressional tool to get to the president that would stand up in court but give business uncertainty as to what the tariffs would be. Steve pearce, good to see. You got my vote.
▶ 2:05:18Chair Lee: Senator gallego.
▶ 2:05:23Sen. Gallego: Thank you to the witnesses for being here. Thank you for coming by my office yesterday. We had a little ticked up with daycare and you were very accommodating considering my daughter was running around like crazy. You have heard from the western states today and I will give you this stat. We have 12.1 million acres of land. We are lucky to have such a beautiful state, the most beautiful in the country.
▶ 2:05:52Sen. Gallego: Within this land we have national monuments that highlight the beauty and culture of the state. One of the ones we always talk about is the grand canyon. The footprints of such. Because it has been asked, this has been somewhat controversial when it comes to the grand canyon monument that has been ping-pong back-and-forth. I want to make sure there will be support for that.
▶ 2:06:22Sen. Gallego: I would like to know if you have plans to roll back for the grand canyon.
▶ 2:06:29Rep. Pearce: Thank you for the question. I did enjoy the visit yesterday and the daycare thing rings heavy and was nice. The monuments are something I do support deeply. I understand the grand canyon is one of the most magnificent things in the world. We will do whatever we can to work with you anyway that is necessary on that.
▶ 2:06:56Sen. Gallego: The administration announced housing on federal lands with little detail. Done smartly, especially for rural arizona, it can be very good to help the cost.
▶ 2:07:12Sen. Gallego: After the announcement I asked the president for details because I want to make sure we don't have the best lands get given away to the richest men and women and end up being the states for them and we stop our communities from being able to access land that is important for fishing and hunting and camping because that is usually the land closest to the cities but also the most valuable.
▶ 2:07:38Sen. Gallego: I want to make sure anything going forward is thoughtful and is actually accessible to working-class people. I want to make sure should you get in you commit to providing the answers for these types of questions, especially from U.S. senators.
▶ 2:07:58Rep. Pearce: Absolutely, senator. On those issues of use of public lands in your state I look forward to working with each individual senator. Every state will be different as far as access. My dad was the lowest level of the oilfield. We had a five acre farm with six kids. We sold vegetables on the highway to make things meat.
▶ 2:08:25Rep. Pearce: The only thing we had to do for vacation was to drive up to cloudcroft and go through the national force. That was our vacation.
▶ 2:08:32Sen. Gallego: That is true for a lot of people in arizona. It's important that the blm land closest to the cities is not sold off to potential trophy homes to billionaires. I want to make sure that doesn't happen and you will do everything to make sure that does not happen. As a veteran many of us use public lands as a public therapy.
▶ 2:09:01Sen. Gallego: A great way to destress and think about what's going on in our lives. A lot of us go camping together. Blm land is often the front yard for rural veteran communities. How would you measure success for recreation and community benefit, not just in production like metrics like leases, mineral or grazing leases?
▶ 2:09:26Rep. Pearce: I experienced the same thing when I got back from vietnam backpacking in california. Some of the wilderness areas. I know what you are talking about. I think access is the key. Some public lands don't have good access. My brother is in a wheelchair. President bush put them on the commission for handicap access, especially to our parks. .
▶ 2:09:54Rep. Pearce: We dealt with that issue a lot of access is extremely important to me for everyone and talking about aging populations.
▶ 2:10:08Sen. Gallego: I yield back.
▶ 2:10:10Chair Lee: Senator hoeven. >> north dakota produced throughout hundred thousand barrels a day and it was going down. We cracked the code and drove it up to 1.5 million barrels a day. Now we are back down to decline. We are at about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day. We need to crack the code again. This time with enhanced the wheel recovery.
▶ 2:10:41Chair Lee: -- oil recovery. If we can take co2 from plants and double the life of those coal plants, give them a new revenue source, pass the tax credit to do that and use that co2 for enhanced oil recovery. We pulled about 5.7 billion barrels out of the ground, head of the shale. We think we can easily double that boebert going -- but we are only getting about 10% of the oil.
▶ 2:11:10Chair Lee: There is potential here if we can do it and the other shale places around the country. What can deal what can deoe do to make that happen?
▶ 2:11:26Mr. Haustveit: As we have spent hours talking about this, it is the top priority in the oil and gas office. Leaving these resources behind with only 10% distracted is irresponsible, not being a good steward of the resources. It is multipronged.
▶ 2:11:45Mr. Haustveit: Some of it is through applied research at the national labs to make sure we understand how we deploy, from the chemistry we blend with and rich gas to the metallurgy that the gases are coming in contact with, and to our funding mechanisms. It is extremely important that we pilot these technologies at scale in the field as soon as we possibly can to get in the best chance of success.
▶ 2:12:15Mr. Haustveit: We need to be thoughtful transitioning these ideas from chat with -- from laboratory to field the full-scale like we did in the bakken, commercial development.
▶ 2:12:26Sen. Hoeven: We know we can do it technologically. The key is getting it to commercial viability, right? That is right and doe's wheelhouse. This is an incredibly big deal. Secretary wright understands it. I know you understand. That's why I'm excited about your leadership.
▶ 2:12:49Sen. Hoeven: Somewhat related but I think in an interesting way we are also looking at using a lot of the oil and gas infrastructure to see if we can't do some exciting new things with geothermal. Talk about what you see is the potential. We are using existing resources and using them in new and creative ways. Better environmental stewardship with a lot more energy. We need electricity and transportation fuels. We need all of it.
▶ 2:13:19Sen. Hoeven: What about geothermal?
▶ 2:13:25Mr. Haustveit: The williston basin has one of the highest thermal gratings for an and gas resources. Not as high as a friend of the west.
▶ 2:13:30Sen. Hoeven: Like new mexico or utah. It's exciting for them.
▶ 2:13:35Mr. Haustveit: What we have a north dakota is geothermal is all about the differential temperature. It is not always warm in north dakota. The produced fluid doesn't have to be as hot to get the same benefit in terms of the differential between the produced fluid in the ambient temperature. That is where we extract the energy from the fluid and converted to electrons.
▶ 2:14:00Sen. Hoeven: What are you looking at to help do that?
▶ 2:14:03Mr. Haustveit: We announced the largest ever funding opportunity for geothermal. One was with cot and now for field pilots. We need people that drill wells to demonstrate these projects at scale. The other is to characterize. North dakota doesn't have to do a lot of character asian work with tens of thousands of wells.
▶ 2:14:27Mr. Haustveit: Areas in the west where there is few penetration because there is no existing production, we need to collect the subsurface information to know where the highest quality resources is.
▶ 2:14:37Sen. Hoeven: I would also think the national labs have a great role to play here. This is about american innovation and ingenuity that can create incredible new energy opportunities. You are committed to working on this things with the members of this committee?
▶ 2:14:59Mr. Haustveit: Absolutely.
▶ 2:14:59Sen. Hoeven: Mr. lacerte, thank you for your good work on ferc. I appreciate it. You are knowledgeable, thoughtful and good about communicating so I want to thank you for that.
▶ 2:15:12Mr. Lacerte: Thank you.
▶ 2:15:13Sen. Hoeven: Mr. pearce, I don't know how some we bring a better back b background to the job. If there's anything you want to put on the record, go ahead. I am thrilled people like you will step up and serve.
▶ 2:15:28Rep. Pearce: I appreciate that.
▶ 2:15:30Chair Lee: There will be a thermodynamics test for members at the end of the hearing if you want to stick around. >> thank you for being here.
▶ 2:15:49Chair Lee: Colorado is not just the $17 billion in the outdoor recreation industry but a sense of connection to our history, to our identity. What it means to be a coloradan. I have a couple of questions. Mr. pearce, we talked about this on the phone.
▶ 2:16:19Chair Lee: When there was talks of selling off public lands recently we had over 80,000 coloradans saying they were against any large-scale selling of public lands. There are existing ways -- towns that are getting lands for buildings.
▶ 2:16:44Chair Lee: There has been huge out welding the people concerned about your nomination over the things you have said around selling public lands. Senator wyden, I watched his questions, and you said you would follow the direction of congress. Often times so position influences congress.
▶ 2:17:10Chair Lee: Are you free of those past comments and I could read back several where you supported the widespread sale of public lands either to pay down the deficit or get money for education or whichever reason. Is something to you really can renounce and feel if you are asked by congress to provide input, what would you say?
▶ 2:17:32Rep. Pearce: That was instructivi appreciate that. As far as the large-scale wholesale land, the secretary has been clear. It prohibits large-scale sale by the director. It would be at the secretary level. I said --
▶ 2:18:15Sen. Hoeven: It would be a useful process this sell off the land of congress was asking to change such a statute?
▶ 2:18:21Rep. Pearce: That is multidimensional question. Sometimes the eastern states don't understand the role of pil t and they say is welfare to the west. They need to take a different tack on the issue.
▶ 2:18:41Sen. Hoeven: If they were selling public lands -- I don't think it would be question the people calling us and so concerned about your nomination, that would not be a reason to begin selling land.
▶ 2:18:55Rep. Pearce: That is not a position I would take. It is not even allowed by the director. I have indicated multiple times today that I will work with the members of the committee on the land in their state. I think that is where the best insight will come with what to do with public lands.
▶ 2:19:15Sen. Hoeven: One of the people calling reminded me of something I said. I have said it multiple I think that -- there is a distrust you have to work really hard to dispel that. I want to ask a question about methane.
▶ 2:19:39Sen. Hoeven: Blm's methane waste prevention rule back in 2017 allowed us to conserve gas that otherwise would have been vented or flared. It made common sense.
▶ 2:19:55Sen. Hoeven: When I was governor of colorado we sat down with the industry and spent a year and a half creating concise, efficient regulations that did everything possible to make sure that we did not put those harmful pollutants into the air and we were able to get maximum benefit from them. And yet now we see that the administration is trying to roll back the current rule that prevents methane waste on current lands.
▶ 2:20:26Sen. Hoeven: We have proven the energy sector can get behind dealing with this. Why are we trying to pull that back? >> I am not familiar with the discussions going on right now. I have had very limited contact. >> would you support high standards in terms of methane waste prevention? Would you support the kind of public operation on public land?
▶ 2:20:50Sen. Hoeven: >> one of the things I am remotely familiar with since getting dominated is there is a very large attempt to gather methane in particular fields and use it to generate data centers. In other words using that methane in a productive fashion, that is something I would be supportive of. >> I'm talking about rolling back the existing regulations. >> again, I'm not familiar with the reasons of the administration would be suggesting.
▶ 2:21:19Sen. Hoeven: I would be happy to look at it at investigative but I do not know if I could comment on it right now. >> thank you. Thank you very much. I want to thank the witnesses for being here today. For answering our questions. A couple of housekeeping items. I want to ask consent to enter to the record 18 letters -- hearing no objection.
▶ 2:21:50Sen. Hoeven: Those will be admitted into the record. Questions are due by 6:00 p.m. Tomorrow, thursday, february 26. The record will remain open until 6:00 p.m. This coming wednesday, march 4. Thank two ranking member heinrich and his staff and members of the committee.
▶ 2:22:15Sen. Hoeven: On behalf of the committee I am pleased to congratulate each of you on your nominations look forward to working closely with each of you as we approach the moment we are nominations can move forward and proceed to the floor. I hope every senator on the committee will encourage leadership on both sides of the aisle to bring these nominations to the floor as soon as possible. The committee stands adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]