Heinrich Questions Key Department Of Energy And Department Of Interior Nominees

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) participated in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to consider the nominations of Joseph Balash to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management, Richard Glick and Kevin McIntyre to be Members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and Ryan Nelson to be Solicitor of the Department of the Interior.

During the hearing, Senator Heinrich secured a commitment from the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management nominee that the Bureau of Land Management will continue to partner with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in considering future energy development in the area around Chaco Culture National Historic Park. Senator Heinrich stressed the importance of the collaboration of BLM and BIA to protecting important cultural religious sites while planning for future energy development, as well as the need to incorporate tribal priorities into the planning process.

Senator Heinrich also questioned the FERC nominees on a recent Department of Energy report on the reliability of the power grid. He raised concerns about the report’s implications of FERC’s role in modifying markets to help preserve higher cost coal and nuclear power.

Testimony and the archived webcast of today's hearing will be available here.