News Releases
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is continuing its bipartisan review of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), releasing today the third in a series of white papers examining a number of issues emerging with the current system. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) are leading this effort to review the law and its implementation and are soliciting input from interested stakeholders.
Today, Representative Henry A. Waxman and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse sent a letter to Acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Bob Perciasepe urging the Agency to reconsider its decision not to regulate methane emissions from coal mines, the fourth largest source of methane emissions in the United States. Reducing methane emissions could delay warming of the atmosphere and provide much needed time for the transition to a clean-energy economy.
Today Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman and Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to establish a Blue Ribbon Commission to examine industrial chemical facility security, in light of the recent tragic explosion at the West, Texas fertilizer plant.
Today, Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman issued the following statement on the announcement that President Obama has nominated Thomas Wheeler as the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn as the Acting Chair:
Today, Reps. Henry A. Waxman, Anna G. Eshoo, Lois Capps, Doris O. Matsui, and Jerry McNerney sent a letter to the California Independent System Operator requesting a detailed description of the grid operator’s plan to ensure the reliability of California’s electric grid during this summer in the event that the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station remains offline.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is continuing its bipartisan review of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), releasing today the second in a series of white papers examining a number of issues emerging with the current system. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) are leading this effort to review the law and its implementation and are soliciting input from interested stakeholders. The white paper released today addresses the impacts of the RFS on the nation’s agricultural sector.
Today Reps. Henry A. Waxman, Sander M. Levin, George Miller, Jim McDermott, and Robert E. Andrews introduced the Medicare Drug Savings Act. The legislation reduces Medicare Part D drug costs to taxpayers by requiring drug manufacturers to provide rebates for drugs dispensed to low-income individuals under the Medicare prescription drug benefit program. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that this bill will provide $141 billion in savings over the next decade. A companion bill is being introduced by Sen. Rockefeller and 18 other members of the Senate. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that this bill will provide $141 billion in savings over the next decade.
Today the Democratic Staff of the Energy and Commerce Committee released a supplemental memo in advance of Tuesday’s Oversight and Investigations hearing titled, “A Continuing Investigation into the Fungal Meningitis Outbreak and Whether It Could Have Been Prevented.” In preparation for this hearing, the Committee received over 27,000 pages of documents from the FDA dating from 2002 to 2012. The 15-page memo details key findings related to FDA oversight of compounding pharmacies generally and the New England Compounding Center (NECC) in particular.
Today Reps. Henry A. Waxman, Diana DeGette, John D. Dingell, and Edward J. Markey sent a letter to Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy urging him to invite the head of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) to testify at the Committee’s April 16 hearing on the recent meningitis outbreak.
Today Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman and Energy and Power Subcommittee Ranking Member Bobby L. Rush sent a letter to Chairmen Fred Upton and Ed Whitfield to reiterate their request for hearings to hear from respected climate scientists about the urgent need to reduce carbon pollution and the likely impacts of unabated climate change on human health, the environment, and the economy. Reps. Waxman and Rush have sent 24 letters to the Chairmen since May 2011, and have received only one response, which asserted that “the Committee frequently addressed climate change issues” in the 112th Congress.