In a letter sent today to Acting National Marine Fisheries Service Asst. Administrator Emily Menashes, U.S. House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) and Economic Growth, Energy Policy, & Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee Chair Eric Burlison (R-MO) noted the Committee’s investigation into “Biden Administration policies that led to higher costs and placed burdensome restrictions on consumer choice.”
In so doing, the letter specifically seeks a staff-level briefing and information about National Marine Fisheries Service efforts to comply with Pres. Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency, including how it is reevaluating past actions and policies that impacted energy costs, and notes that environmental groups “abused the [Endangered Species Act] to create regulatory delays…and to influence…decisions,” with the agency in turn having “tailored ESA policies to confirm with these groups’ demands.” Among other things, it also cites NMFS actions under the Biden administration that “raised the bar for delisting a species from endangered status” and “designate more habitats as critical habitats, even when endangered species living in those habitats are no longer found in those locations.”