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Jael Holzman

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A 9-year-old male right whale lies dead on a beach on Miscou Island in New Brunswick in June 2019 after being towed onto the shore the previous night.

Playing politics with science spawns new threat to endangered whales

By Jael Holzman
Posted March 5, 2020 at 5:32am, Updated at 10:33am
Raul Grijalva

House panel to vote on subpoena powers for Grijalva

By Benjamin J. Hulac and Jael Holzman
Posted February 12, 2020 at 5:00am
White Canyon in Natural Bridges National Monument, which borders the Bears Ears National Monument outside Blanding, Utah, on June 15, 2019. (George Frey/Getty Images file photo)

Interior moves to speed energy development on formerly protected Utah land

By Jael Holzman
Posted February 6, 2020 at 5:20pm
A Trump administration proposal would expand the number of projects like pipelines and fossil fuel drilling sites that are eligible to avoid comprehensive environmental impact studies. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images file photo)

Trump administration proposal would ease environmental impact reviews for federal projects

By Jael Holzman
Posted January 9, 2020 at 11:30am
Argali sheep walk near a mountain crest in Xinjiang, China. (Costfoto / Barcroft Media / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Agency: No cause to review Trump Jr. hunting adventure

By Jael Holzman
Posted December 20, 2019 at 3:38pm
Animal conservation activists said Donald Trump Jr. might have violated a federal wildlife anti-trafficking law when he killed a rare sheep during a recent trip to Mongolia and imported parts of the animal back to the U.S (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Agency says it will review Trump Jr.’s sheep hunt in Mongolia

By Jael Holzman
Posted December 18, 2019 at 11:31am
California Democratic Rep. Jim Costa represents part of California’s San Joaquin Valley, a drought-prone region where the politics surrounding agricultural and water interests can often trump partisanship. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

California water politics complicate House panel’s oversight

By Jael Holzman
Posted December 16, 2019 at 6:00am
EPA has “significant gaps in cybersecurity capabilities” according to an Office of Management and Budget report. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)

EPA IG: Top official illegally blocked interference probe

By Jael Holzman
Posted December 10, 2019 at 3:33pm
During the March to May mating season, sage grouse males display their bulging air sacs to attract mates. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images file photo)

Conservationists: Interior ignores court order on sage grouse protection

By Jael Holzman
Posted November 25, 2019 at 5:00am
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt testifies in May 2019. The department he leads is close to completing a contract for a water district he represented as a lobbyist. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Interior nears a contract with a company its secretary used to lobby for

By Jael Holzman
Posted November 8, 2019 at 4:21pm
Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Joe Manchin has said he will support the nomination of James Danly to fill a vacant Republican seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Manchin backs FERC nominee despite Schumer’s opposition

By Jael Holzman
Posted November 5, 2019 at 5:27pm
Rep. TJ Cox represents farmers in California’s Central Valley. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Democrats’ Bernhardt probe has California’s Cox in a tough spot

By Jael Holzman and Joshua Eaton
Posted October 31, 2019 at 6:00am
The EPA would ordinarily evaluate pesticide safety, but it has never done so for marijuana because the plant is illegal under federal law. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

As states legalize marijuana, pesticides may be a blind spot

By Jael Holzman and Jacob Fischler
Posted September 16, 2019 at 5:30am
A DC cannabis group protests in front of the U.S. Capitol on Monday, April 24, 2017, to call on Congress to reschedule the drug classification of marijuana (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call).

Watch: Pesticides used on marijuana may pose unknown public health risks

By Jael Holzman and Thomas McKinless
Posted September 11, 2019 at 5:05am
Sandstone formations are seen in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument outside Escalante, Utah. (George Frey/Getty Images file photo)

Trump administration to allow energy development in Utah former national monument

By Jael Holzman
Posted August 26, 2019 at 8:37am
Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt testifies during his Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing on March 28, 2019. (File photo by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

GOP members confirm Bernhardt met with group tied to ex-client

By Jael Holzman
Posted August 23, 2019 at 9:45am
Sen. Ron Wyden said he will block any unanimous consent motion to confirm Daniel Jorjani to be the lead attorney at the Interior Department, which would force a roll call vote on the nomination. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)

Wyden aims to stunt lead Interior attorney confirmation, cites records policy

By Jael Holzman
Posted July 31, 2019 at 1:12pm
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Interior held back FOIA’d documents after political screenings

By Jael Holzman and Benjamin J. Hulac
Posted June 18, 2019 at 5:30am
U.S. Department of Commerce building in Washington. A new Commerce Department report has created worry among environmental groups, who say the report could give the Trump administration a rationale for opening federal lands to new mineral extraction. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

A Trump administration review of mining bans has green groups worried

By Jael Holzman
Posted June 5, 2019 at 4:57pm
A public records request for emails between a National Park Service official and Lolita Zinke, above, wife of former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, was originally estimated to potentially yield 96 pages of communication. It ended up being 16 pages long after being put through the awareness review process.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images file photo)

Interior Department policy let political appointees review FOIA requests

By Jael Holzman and Benjamin J. Hulac
Posted May 22, 2019 at 5:00am
David Bernhardt, nominee to be Secretary of the Interior, testifies during his Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen Building on March 28, 2019. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt told a House committee Wednesday that he hasn’t “lost any sleep” over record levels of global emissions that cause climate change. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Interior head: ‘I Haven’t Lost Any Sleep’ over record carbon levels

By Jael Holzman
Posted May 15, 2019 at 4:56pm
Rep. Matt Gaetz, F-Fla., conducts a news conference at the House Triangle to unveil climate change legislation the Green Real Deal, on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. He said just because Earth is warming, and humans contributed, doesn't mean a "good deal" was reached in the Paris climate accord. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Paris climate bill will send a message and test Republicans

By Benjamin J. Hulac and Jael Holzman
Posted May 2, 2019 at 11:05am
Attorney General William Barr appears on a television in the Capitol subway on April 18, 2019. He is testifying before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees this week. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Road ahead: More on the Mueller report; floor action on Paris bill, nominations

By Jael Holzman, Lindsey McPherson and Niels Lesniewski
Posted April 29, 2019 at 5:00am
The EPA has proposed limits on the kinds of science that can be used to make environmental rules.  l(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

EPA draft groundwater rules disappoint clean water advocates

By Jael Holzman
Posted April 26, 2019 at 10:41am
Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., are seen during a House Oversight and Reform Committee business meeting in Rayburn Building on January 29, 2019. Wasserman Schultz and a bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers are pushing to ban drilling off their coast. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Offshore drilling ban proposed by bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers

By Jael Holzman
Posted April 24, 2019 at 11:02am
House Democrats have said Interior Secretary David Bernhardt could be running afoul of federal records laws. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Bernhardt’s office acknowledges meetings left off schedule

By Jael Holzman
Posted April 16, 2019 at 5:05am
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was confirmed by the Senate last week by a vote of 56-41. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Interior Secretary Bernhardt under investigation by inspector general

By Benjamin J. Hulac and Jael Holzman
Posted April 15, 2019 at 7:56pm
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was confirmed by the Senate last week by a vote of 56-41. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Bernhardt nears confirmation, but Capitol Hill isn’t finished with him

By Jael Holzman
Posted April 11, 2019 at 5:00am
Former Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., left, and John Kerry, D-Mass., testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Tuesday . (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Kerry, Hagel rip Trump’s climate policies, and battle Republicans on House panel

By Jael Holzman
Posted April 9, 2019 at 3:26pm
Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s daily schedules have some interesting entries. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Newly disclosed meetings with industry create ethics questions for Interior secretary

By Jael Holzman and Benjamin J. Hulac
Posted April 8, 2019 at 5:04am
A worker arrives at the Department of Interior on January 28, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Offshore drilling may be oily albatross for Trump’s pick to head Interior

By Jael Holzman and Benjamin J. Hulac
Posted March 28, 2019 at 10:23am
The Atlantic Ocean is seen adjacent to President Donald Trump's beachfront Mar-a-Lago resort, the day after Florida received an exemption from the Trump Administration's newly announced ocean drilling plan on Jan. 11, 2018, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Expect offshore drilling to play role in next week’s Interior secretary confirmation

By Jael Holzman
Posted March 21, 2019 at 11:13am
Crystal, a female gray wolf, roams the new wold enclosure during a sneak peak of the new American Trail at the Smithsonian National Zoo August 29, 2012 in Washington, D.C. (Allison Shelley/Getty Images)

Conservatives back proposed gray wolf delisting as green groups howl

By Jael Holzman and Benjamin J. Hulac
Posted March 15, 2019 at 11:24am
The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on a review that led to substantially reduced boundaries for Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. A company tied to mineral interests there met with a senior Interior Department official nearly a month before President Donald Trump requested the review. (George Frey/Getty Images file photo)

Seeking to shrink Bears Ears, uranium firm met with Interior before review

By Jael Holzman
Posted March 4, 2019 at 3:08pm
Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency, prepares to testify before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in August. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

These toxins last ‘forever.’ But the EPA is going slow

By Jael Holzman
Posted February 19, 2019 at 5:04am
“There are some things I’m willing to look at,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Meadows said of climate solutions. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Some GOP lawmakers are thawing on climate change

By Jael Holzman, Elvina Nawaguna and Benjamin J. Hulac
Posted February 14, 2019 at 11:08am
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, is among the more conservative Democrats in the House. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Henry Cuellar says liberals targeting him don’t understand his district

By Bridget Bowman and Jael Holzman
Posted January 11, 2019 at 12:53pm
Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, prepares to testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works panel last year. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Email dump could slow EPA confirmation fight

By Jael Holzman
Posted January 10, 2019 at 5:00am
The new House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., has served on the panel since he first came to Congress in 2003. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Grijalva’s moment arrives as he takes Natural Resources gavel

By Jael Holzman
Posted January 7, 2019 at 5:05am
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., and the former Interior Secretary didn’t exactly mince words. That could continue in the new year. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Grijalva: Natural Resources Panel Not Finished With Zinke Yet

By Jael Holzman
Posted December 21, 2018 at 5:03am
A worker inserts a probe into the tailpipe of a car while performing an emissions test in San Francisco. The Trump administration plans to freeze fuel economy and tailpipe emissions standards, as part of a larger deregulatory push. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images file photo)

EPA Aims to Triple Pace of Deregulation in Coming Year

By Jael Holzman
Posted October 18, 2018 at 12:30pm
When Rep. Fred Upton faces off against his Democratic challenger in Michigan’s 6th District, so-called forever chemicals will be on many voters’ minds. Above, Upton runs out of the Capitol after the last votes of the week in April. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

‘Forever Chemicals’ Seep Into Michigan’s Water (and House Races)

By Jael Holzman
Posted October 8, 2018 at 8:30am
Barriers at the southern border. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images file photo)

Ocelots, Butterflies in Path of Border Wall

By Jael Holzman
Posted September 21, 2018 at 5:05am
Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the president’s Puerto Rico tweets have fanned the flames of suspicion. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Trump Tweet Jeopardizes Bipartisan Puerto Rico Bill

By Jael Holzman
Posted September 14, 2018 at 4:04pm
Sen. Dianne Feinstein says “Californians have a right to breathe clean air, and we’re not giving that up to President Trump without a fight.” (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Dems Rip Page From GOP Playbook to Fight Trump’s Pollution Rollback

By Jeremy Dillon and Jael Holzman
Posted August 2, 2018 at 4:32pm
Rep. Rob Bishop called a Natural Resources Committee hearing to scrutinize the crisis at Puerto Rico’s “atypical” electric power company. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Feeling Dissed, Puerto Rico Governor May Skip House Hearing

By Jael Holzman
Posted July 20, 2018 at 5:31pm
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was grilled about his agency’s handling of lead paint and mold in public housing. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Carson Grilled About Lead Paint and Mold in Public Housing

By Jael Holzman
Posted June 28, 2018 at 10:58am