public service. >> thursday, national institutes of allergy and infectious diseases, dr. fauci and dr. whatens ki testified with other federal officials on the covid-19 response. watch live on c-span 3 and online at c-span.org or listen live with the free c-span radio app. biden's energy agenda. a key player and implanting that agenda is now in place. one of the headlines yesterday, challenges galore await holland. explain what some of those challenges are. caller: -- guest: well, she comes into the department of interior with a very much different agenda from the trump administration.

she is going to be looking at restoring national monuments, how far does the biden administration go on the oil and gas drilling in public lands? she is also going to have to deal with any other appointees confirmed to the department and she is going to be overseeing several agencies dealing with huge issues from the migratory bird treaty act to the endangered species act. it is a big, big job. she is going to have a lot on her plate. host: a big job that includes issues dealing with the united states public land. i want to take viewers back to deb haaland's confirmation hearing. it was for public and senator john barrasso who was pressing her on that topic during her confirmation hearing.

here is a bit from that. >> you have stated that you are wholeheartedly against fracking and drilling on public lands. you have said that "we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground." you have also stated that you oppose all fossil fuel infrastructure. if confirmed, president biden is likely to ask you, specifically, whether he should extend the ban on oil and gas and coal on federal lands and waters. you said repeatedly that president biden's agenda is your agenda, but what this committee wants to know is how would you advise him? how will you act? your principal role as secretary of interior. how will you advise him, and will you encourage the president to extend the existing day -- the 60 day ban on leasing or o

ot? >> yes, i will reiterate again, president biden's agenda would be my agenda if i am confirmed. i recognize that the roles are different. the role of a congresswoman in one district in the country is much different than the role of a secretary who is fighting and working for every single american in all of our public lands across the country. those are two different things, i recognize that. i want to make sure that if i'm confirmed, we are working to strike the right balance. we need to care as much about the environment as we do about the fossil fuel infrastructure in your state and other states. we need to balance those priorities, and i feel that yes, sometimes it might seem like a

tricky sort of balancing act, but i feel very strongly that if we have a mind to protect our public lands for future generations, that we will also be able to protect jobs for future generations as well. host: talking about the biden administration's environment and energy agenda. kevin, the now-secretary noting repeatedly that her job as secretary is different than her job as a sitting representative. did she have different views in the biden administration when it comes to these public land and energy issues as a sitting member? guest: i think it is fair to say she probably had different views as a house member than what she might carry out now as interior secretary. i mean, we will have to see what happens today. it will likely be her first date after being confirmed yesterday evening by the senate on a very tight vote of 51-40.

she is considered a progressive, she is a cosponsor of the green new deal which again, is kind of aspirational for transforming the economy and the energy sector, that republicans basically used to swing at democrats. something democrats have pitched as something to fight climate change, investing more in clean energy and republicans respond with your never going to build oil and gas infrastructure ever again, you are going to keep it in the ground, fossil fuels like coal and so on and so on. president biden and also candidate biden would rhetorically say i am not the green new deal, i have my own deal, this is my plan, but kind of progressive supporters and allies of president biden would

influence his agenda. climate change, the environment, energy. there is aspects of the green new deal. -- various aspects of the green new deal. it would be interesting to see how this moves forward. i think it is fair to say that biden was probably the most aggressive candidate in a presidential race on climate change, and he has come right out of the gate with the policy and personnel to execute that agenda. we are still very early into this administration, within the first 100 days, but it probably won't be exactly like the green new deal. i think it is fair to say that biden's agenda is inspired by parts of the green new deal, for sure.

host: if you want to talk about the biden energy, environmental agenda, have questions on it, now would be a great time to call in. phone lines as usual. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. this vote yesterday on deb haaland coming less than a week after michael regan was confirmed to be the epa administrator. what should viewers know about michael regan? guest: michael regan is, like you said, was confirmed last week by the senate on a relatively easier vote at 66-34. 16 republicans support him, kind of a more bipartisan support for him. he is coming from the north carolina department of environmental quality where he was secretary. he served there for four years. he kind of comes in as someone who could help restore staff

morale in pa. it is a similar job he did at the department of environment of quality down in north carolina. essentially, he has already been telling staff and saying i hear you, your voices matter, we are going to listen to you. epa during the trump administration was particularly targeted for proposed budget cuts. they did not come to pass but it sent a message that they wanted to downsize the agency and on top of that, hundreds of employees did leave the epa during the past four years, many of them frustrated over the direction the agency had taken. so now reagan comes in and i think his first priority is going to be listening to the staff and restoring staff

morale, saying we value you, please stick around. let's move forward and get back to the job of the epa, which is protecting human health and the environment. host: now we have got interior secretary, but we also have a national climate advisor in gina mccarthy. and a special presidential envoy for climate in former senator john kerry. how are these folks all going to work together and play together in the same space? guest: well, i think reagan, is mo, his responsibility will be epa and epa will have a huge role to play in climate but it is also going to have a huge role by in water, chemicals, toxic waste sites. there is a lot for epa to do. he will be at the forefront.

of course, the epa is going to be drafting new climate change regulations, but essentially, i think how all these people are going to work together, to get back to your question, reagan will have epa, but mccarthy is going to have kind of the domestic sliced of climate change policy and she will be responsible for the whole of government approach and epa is not alone agency on climate, there are plenty of other agencies. i wouldn't call him a second secretary of state, he has already served ones as secretary of state, but he is already traveling around the world. he was in europe this past week meeting with dignitaries, basically trying to get everyone to increase their goals in reducing carbon emissions. essentially, mccarthy is going to be ensuring we can meet those

goals, promising these meetings with foreign diplomats so we can kind of get a global momentum going again on cutting down on carbon emissions. host: before we leave, michael regan, i should note that his confirmation supported by the two republican senators in north carolina, richard burr, thom tillis. what does that say about his ability to build consensus? guest: good question. getting back to reagan, he came in at a very difficult time in north carolina, a very contentious election. governor cooper down in north carolina won a close election, but state legislature still controlled by republicans. essentially, reagan had to deal with republican lawmakers all

the time for his budget, for any action. this environmental agency was in charge of. he went out and he met with them, had phone calls with them, kept an open door. was very, very accessible. he also was very accessible to industry groups, agricultural groups, kind of the whole spectrum of people who were interested in environmental regulation and enforcement. and that got him a lot of friends. i talked to a number of republicans and business groups in north carolina, they had nothing but great things to say about him and they recognized that they were going to disagree with him on big things. maybe how aggressive he moved on climate. he is probably going to end up moving very aggressively on climate at epa, but he was

willing to listen to the other side and i think that helped him a lot to win friends and also tamp down criticism if he did go very tough on a certain environmental issue. host: kevin is with the environment and energy if you want to check them out and talk to them. phone lines are open to do so. good morning. caller: good morning. the thing that impresses me about secretary haaland is that she is a member of an indian nation and as a result, she really has two citizenships, both in the united states and in her nation. and she moves in an area which has just been hit hard by not taking account of climate change and she can now work making possibly a way in which we can

work with climate change across nations. there is an artificial line within her nation that separates the nation in half. now we can have working with mexico in establishing solar and wind energy and not be so dependent on a very weak fossil fuel economy. host: kevin? guest: that is true. at interior, as secretary of the interior, she will be the first native american ever to serve -- sorry, first native american ever to serve as a cabinet secretary, let alone the first native american to lead the interior. she has a lot of experience and thoughts on environmental issues.

as we mentioned, she cosponsored the green new deal. she has also been part of the protest against pipelines. a much different person than what we saw in the prior administration. and the interior has a huge role to play in climate change. studying and researching the issue, but also a big thing is going to be this drilling on public lands. this new leasing of oil and gas drilling in public lands. does that pause become a permanent ab? -- ban? i think that is something that is going to have a lot of friction between what we would see from house maker or lawmaker haaland versus interior secretary haaland because in order to get her confirmation, she had to make a lot of promises and commitments to help win some votes, but we will see

how far this pause becomes a permanent man. i think that is -- permanent ban. that will be a big part of what interior does, the department of the interior does. host: that explanation about the size of the lands that interior is responsible for, some 500 million acres of surface land, 700 million acres beneath the surface and 2.5 billion acres at the outer continental shelf. 50 million acres of native american land. 500 wildlife refuges, and water supply for some 31 million people. that in the portfolio of the interior department. taking your comments about the biden environmental energy agenda, this is steve out of illinois, independent. good morning. caller: good morning.

i was watching c-span yesterday and they want to put gps trackers on gasoline cars to pay for the infrastructure. i live in a food desert. it takes me 35 miles to get to the nearest walmart work aldi -- walmart or aldi. it is 20 miles to the nearest grocery store. how is this going to affect me, and i live in farm country. i can't even get a coronavirus vaccine. joe biden paid for my gasoline tax with his $1400 check. it is really upsetting if they are going to track me and gps me. host: got your point, stephen.

kevin, how much can you talk about gas tax policy? guest: well, i think with the caller is getting into there is that we have now passed the covid-19 relief bill, the american rescue plan, but now we are getting into the next big item on the biden agenda which is going to be a huge infrastructure package. that is going to be -- a big part of it is going to be roads and highways and how we pay for it. and do we pay for it? that is an open question, too. but there is a lot of debate on how we pay for it. do we raise a higher gas tax? there is debate of a mileage tax, which is basically how

often does your vehicle -- excuse me, how many miles your vehicle travels, maybe taxed by that. some people are nervous about raising gas tax, i think there is a separate issue on the mileage tax. it is going to get very sticky and of course, democrats, this is kind of their big hope to get republican votes on this one. there is no republican votes from covid-19 recovery bill, but there has been a lot of hope that we will be able to get enough republican votes in the senate that they won't have to do reconciliation. we will have to see what happens. basically, that is going to be one of the stickiest if not the stickiest issue on infrastructure, how do we pay

for it, and if we do pay for it. host: if they can't get any support from her publicans on infrastructure bill, which traditionally has been a bipartisan issue, what does that say about the ability to get votes on a major climate bill that joe biden is also promised? >> that's true. infrastructure may be the only train out of the station where they can get republican votes. if they don't succeed on matt, i think climate, major climate legislation was always looking very tough, even after biden's election and even after the special elections in georgia and democrats took the senate, because you need 50 votes to overcome the filibuster. and it's not clear that they even have all the democrats on major climate legislation.

of course, i'm thinking of senator joe mansion, the chairman of the senate energy and national resources committee. he comes from west virginia, has been a big opponent of climate legislation. so if you can't get climate legislation, what do you do? that is where you come to the epa again and have them develop climate change regulations, which basically, the epa under the biden administration is very much likely to do. looking even further down the road, you're probably going to run into litigation and it would be interesting how those rules survive in court, especially

with a supreme court that is very much conservative-leaning now. host: tulsa oklahoma, republican, good morning. caller: good morning, i am glad we have a climate expert on because i wonder whatever happened to al gore's global warming scenario, particularly with all the democrats voting in colorado on climate change with getting all the snow and ice and so forth. what was the reason since the solution to climate change was and is the same as the solution to global warming? how come we moved away from global warming, because that could be measured, whereas climate change really is more of a difficult thing, since the climate always will change? host: climate change and the

politics of it on capitol hill today? guest: climate change, i think the caller is getting into maybe the change in rhetoric from global warming to climate change. i don't have the numbers in front of me but i think maybe, probably last year, maybe the year before was the hottest year on record. if you keep on looking at global temperatures, they are rising more and more each year. that said, i think climate change refers to a whole host of issues that are affected because of increasing the amount of greenhouse gases, carbon emissions and everything else into the atmosphere. climate change refers to a whole bunch of phenomenon like increasing wildfires in the west , stronger hurricanes. and, yes, even harsher and colder winter storms. kind of these extreme weather events become more extreme. to get back into the

politics of climate change, you now have a president who won an election by saying i am going to fight climate change in the white house, compared to the past president who downplayed it or did not really address it or in some elements also called a hoax. you also have republicans i think who are more comfortable with taking action on climate change, more and more. you have senator romney talking about a carbon tax or a carbon price. you also have seen senator murkowski talk about how this is affecting her state of alaska, where you are seeing basically villages and towns of their

starting to be affected by that, starting to lose land. you are seeing coastlines change very gradually but it is happening across the country. i think one thing when you look at supporters of aggressive action and climate change, they told me look at the coastal republicans. infrastructure, you mentioned earlier, the potential of climate legislation might not be climate legislation per se, but it might show up in this infrastructure bill. a lot of measures to combat climate change and also putting more money into more federal investment, things like clean energy, electric vehicles, things like that. the infrastructure bill might end up being the climate change bill. host: about two minutes left this morning with kevin, ee news.

diane, thanks for waiting. can you make it quick? caller: yes. i would like to know if somebody could address when they were testing the nuclear bomb, one bomb was tested on the d2 mission and after a time, levels did not come down off the coast of california. host: giant, kevin, i'm not sure if you can address that. nuclear energy certainly is something in the portfolio of the energy secretary, we have not talked about. next in the statement if you want to take that up in the final minute and a half or so. guest: i guess one big thing to refer to, we have talked about deb haaland and michael regan, the big three on energy and environment have now been confirmed, including jennifer, the former mission and governor

energy secretary. she has a huge role to play on all aspects of energy policy. including nuclear energy. supporters of that source will talk about how it is low emission were zero emission--or zero emission, but environmentalists will push back and say where you put the waste? and then we get into original program politics. of course, with yucca mountain in nevada, with this site that has been basically put on ice. so it will be interesting to see how much. we have not had a lot of discussion of nuclear energy, but it will be interesting how much support that gets from the biden administration. host: all the coverage of the big three that you can ask for at eenews.com.

>> we are waiting for the u.s. house to return and will debate a extension of the paycheck protection program and awarding three congressional gold medals to united states capitol police. follow live house coverage here on c-span. federal, state and local emergency management officials testified before a house subcommittee on the covid-19 response. acting fema administrator gave an update and lessons learned. watch that hearing tonight at 10:00 eastern. >> wednesday morning, homeland security mayorkas testifies to a house committee for the first time since being confirmed and will discuss the agency's operations. watch live at c-span 3 or listen on the free