fish & wildlife. you track all over the country all different kinds of species. if you wanted to really learn about gray wolves or manatees, this would be audio place to come and start finding how the protection movement got under foot. >> one of the people you write a lot about in your book is jon burros. behind you is an old picture of him and theodore roosevelt. who was he? >> he was a great american. he was a tran senden tallist. he was taken under the wing of walt whitman when whitman was a nurse for the soldiers. he tacked him for greatness. he had an incredible mind as a naturalist, as a poet, as a writer. he was the most popular person writing on nature after the civil war. you talk about millions of copies of his book sold. so he's a direct descendent of that emerson, thorough, whitman school. and t.r. admired him more than any other single person. when i read all of roosevelt's corks he usually calls people by their first or last name, and he called him uncle john. he felt adopted by john bo

fish and wildlife. roosevelt realized the federal government had an obligation to take species of birds and animals, to save plants and trees, and to -- the president has an obligation to make sure that we put aside for generations unborn, natural wonders like roosevelt did, like the grand canyon or mount olympus or the petrified forest. they turned this training center for conservation into a museum almost four theodore roosevelt. >> the training center is the national conservation training center, one of many places douglas brinkley went to research his book. >> we talk about the eagle's nest and our discussion with doug brinkley about his book on conservation. it's over your shoulder. >> that was five years ago we had a bald eagles that started trying to build a nest. first season they did not do a good job, but the second season they came back and tried again. they succeeded in building their nest. they had two eaglets back here. one of them died and the other one went out. >> what does this have to

cobly on fish and wildlife. why i feel like i am walking into a treasure trove, a lot of people that write on nature focus on parks. yosomite and how to save species and the habitats. if you don't have enough wetlands you can't monitor the species. the fish and wildlife helped with the florida panther and many getting hit, and our government has created a national wildlife refuge. and to create a habitat for this panther to live. not to say there would be a million of them. but not to lose the panthers and not lose the polar bear in alaska. this is where they are fighting for survival. this is how the endangered fish and wildlife act is real. my book is not just about theodore roosevelt but how we got to this story. we have a great system. look at the map, the problem is that we are not maintenancing problem due to the lack of funding. and commercialization is always encroaching on them. people don't like if you can't have a development. you mean i can't build a complex because of the gray panther. it's that bal

also, the darling national wildlife refuge, he was a cartoonist, but the national wildlife refuge is spectacular. roosevelt created the national forest in florida that links the atlantic to the gulf. if you look on a map you will see the big green swath of natural forest. that is a heavy manatee area he preserved. >> i've been interviewing you 15 years. how do you remember all this? >> i love history. you know that about me. i have a good memory, i guess, for things when i get into something. >> photographic memory? >> i don't know. but my enthusiasm is so high that when i find documents, i'm very excited about it and i'm able to incorporate all that because i like this. this really opened my eyes. before i wrote this book i was going to parks and i was not thinking about the back story of how we got this system. we're always looking for good news in america. i will give you a good news story. look at our incredible park system we have in this country of wildlife refuges, national parks. we give that right -- we have the responsibility to maintain it properly. >> how do you, when you

fish & wildlife. i would send individual -- paul down in florida, who used to run pelican island, who now runs ding darwin. if he didn't have an answer to something, he had two guys looking through it. if i went to, you know -- you get the idea. donald worster, who wrote the recent biography on john muir, wrote the reclamation project. roosevelt made a great mistake in the dams, trying to bring electricity to west. it's controversial. it's a big part of my book. donald worster is our national expert on the aired west. i would sent him my questions. everybody i sent a chapter to found something wrong. sometimes four or five -- usually in this case, i didn't get anything big wrong. it's a word change. i say, you know, the winds blew from the southeast and it can't be the southeast. it's the northeast. that microthing. and particularly, i'm a bird lover and amateur. i would send it to auto bonn society to make sure i'm not misidentifying a bird species. they're very particular people. >> you have your ha

he had hiked to the top of the matterhorn and not see any wildlife. you go to our western mountains, you're going to see wildlife. it is special. if anybody who has ever interacted with wildlife and saw spotted owl at the laforce logo to yellowstone and see a black bear or herd of elk, it is all inspiring. parents want their kids to see it. roosevelt worked to save that. the left had trouble with roosevelt as a hunter. he was always under. they have trouble with him because he wanted to wipe out predators. he was the world's experts on cougars. he wrote many essays about them. he would collect cougars and mountain lions and knew all about them. also, different types of condoleezza and gray wolves. they were predator-controlled. he thought of eradicating walls because he wanted to save the antelope and caribou, deer and elk. the first book published by president as president ever was theatre roosevelt called "to the deer family." she wrote about all the deer populations america using charts of where they live and how to get back. today we have so many

fish and wildlife. conservation leaders from all over the world come here for seminars and to learn proper techniques. this is walking past pictures of caribou in alaska. roosevelt was very interested in all nature, including terrible. what interests me in writing my book is roosevelt is the father of the u.s. fish and wildlife. the crater of the sierra club. roosevelt realized the federal government had the responsibility to save the species of birds and animals, plants and trees, and the president has an obligation to make sure we criticiz protect nl wonders like the grand canyon or mount olympus or the petrified forests for future generations. at this training center he turned this into a -- we turned this into museum of theater roosevelt. >> when did you become interested in him? >> i've loved him since childhood. i read edmund morris's biography and david mccullough's. in 1992 i had a program called "the magic bus. i went to north dakota in the badlands, the western edge. that is where he spent his

he had hiked to the top of the matter horn and he didn't see any wildlife. you go to our rocky mountains, you're going to see wildlife. it is special. anybody who has ever interacts with the wild, a saw a spotted owl up in olympic national forest or you go to yellowstone and you get a chance to see a black bear or a herd of elk. it's a inspiring. parents want their kids to see it. roosevelt was working to save all of these. the left has had trouble with roosevelt as hunter. he always was a hunter. they have trouble with him because he wanted to wipe out predators. he was the world's expert on cougar. he wrote many essays about them and would collect cougars, mountain lions, knew all about them and also different types of coyotes and grave wolves. they would do predator control, meaning they would use ways to eradicate wolves because he was mainly wanting to save the antelope, caribou, deer and elk. a factoid, brian, because you do presidential history so much. the first book published by a president as president ever was theodore roosevelt's book, a byline b

later in life he was a wildlife expert. puerto rican scenery, when he went down there, he is writing about masses of flowers. he goes on and on. >> have you read all the books? >> yes. >> how many books did he write? >> it depends there are so many edited versions. and the memorial editions. but he wrote 30 of his own titles. some people say over 50. if he gave a speech, they made it into a book. he didn't make the letters to my children, it's his writing but done later. >> can it be true that he read a book a day? >> yeah. >> how can he be the president of the united states, write books and the antitruster, and read a book a day. >> his mind went at such a rapid pace. and i notice that people read a lot read quicker. because he knew how to read. and he ran all the classics, even in the woods he would bring the pigskin editions. and what was unique, he focused on naval history and military history. >> how much navy experience? >> the first book he wrote at harvard was summer birds. and wrote about birds in new york. and his

the fish and wildlife service was in trouble. we had to step in. and we did this on a bipartisan basis. in fact, when i was in the minority, mr. taylor and i, mr. regula and i worked to try to increase the funding for the park service so we wouldn't see it dweteryate. and now we have a -- deteriorate . we have huge backlog of work to be done at the fish and wildlife service, b.l.m. even with the bigger budget, we don't have enough money to take care of all the issues we need to address. this is a good bill that deserves our support. and this rule deserves support. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from north carolina. ms. foxx: i think it's important to point out to the american people that there are only 60 members on the appropriations committee, which means only 60 out of 435 members in this body had the opportunity to amend the bill that's under consideration here. if we had an open rule, every member would have had that opportunity. i'd also like to say that my colleague from colorado said only one demo

we believe in alaska, the management of our wildlife is very important. it if you look at everything from wildlife to fisheries, we do very good management technique up there to ensure that the wolf, fish, bear, terrible, moves -- we are managing it in a very careful way because we not only have everything from system centers, alaska natives that utilize animals for assistance lifestyle. we have sport hunting, non- sports hunting, people like myself who are -- my family goes out fishing and we eat fish a lot in our household. once a week, it's not multiple times. it is a very careful management system we have in alaska. from the outside, sometimes it may not look as well done in a sense as some people might like to think, but i think we do a very good job. the issue of wolf pack's is very controversial not only on the country, but at times within alaska itself. host: our final call for senator begich, shane on our independent line from iowa. caller: we spend more money than every other country in the world combined on our military. but nothing is being do

in the area of conservation this bill does great things for public lands and wildlife conservation. funding for the national park service, our wildlife refuges, and our national forests will help maintain these national treasures for the enjoyment of all americans. our public lands are key to preserving habitats and biodiversity, which have positive impacts on the quality of life and health of our ecosystems of in the area of environmental protection, madam chairman, in this legislation we make strong investments in programs that protect our environment. the superfund program cleans up our nation's most contaminated sites and readies them for new economic development. the energy star program conserves energy and saves the consumer money. this bill provides increases to both the superfund and energy star. and this bill also helps preserve our cultural heritage and educates our citizens about our history. state historic preservation officials -- offices are funded at $46.5 million. the projects these organizations undertake in all 50 states not only protect our cultural identity but t

we provide money to operate the national wildlife refuge system, $20 million above the request. these funds will provide critically needed staff if more areas, implement climate change strategies. currently more than 200 of the 250 ref refuges have no on-site staff this bill provides $360 million for the land and water conservation fund, including an $11 million increase for the land administration account in the parks service. colorado ose landscape goes hand in hand wits character. all of us define where we come from by the character of our natural heritage. we're lucky to have as many beautiful places across our country set aside as public lands. over half of the state of colorado is held in public trust as a national forest. my district is home to the indian peaks wilderness and the white river. the white river is the single most visited national forest in the nation and we have other marvelous ray atractions as well in the public trust. this bill invests in public land management, state assistance and other items at the forest service. the forezest service budget is $2.7 bi

our national parks, our national forests, our fish and wildlife service and the programs for the tribes. and i have really appreciated mr. cole and mr. obey who have been so sensitive and concerned about these tribal issues. and we have made substantial increases. but even with that, with the work that still remains to be done, there is still more that needs to be done in order to take care of the issues in our indian country. and the hearings this year, where we got into law enforcement and the need for more law enforcement, the need for recognition, the laws are covering tribal areas today are not sufficient. and the justice department needs to take action on this. so i commend the gentleman from idaho for his solid work and participation. and let's get on with the amendments. if you yield back, i yield back. mr. simpson: i thank you. and thank you as i said in the opening statement. i thank you for the oversight hearings we have had. it's the best i have had in my time in congress in terms of the oversight hearings we have had done. and you have done a masterful job of it. and i yiel

i'm also particularly proud of our efforts to improve the national wildlife refuge system. we have provided a $40 million increase over 2009 to reduce critical staffing shortage, implement climate change strategies and improve conservation efforts. the bill improves land management. science programs at the forest, by increasing nonforest programs. the bill provides $1 hundred -- 100 million to protect steams. this is a key part of our effort to protect the national forest and grasslands. and final ily, we have provided an increase of $86 million for the cultral agencies supported by this bill. we recommend $170 million for the national endowment of the arts and national endowment for the humanities. the endowments are vital for preserving america's cultral heritage and supports the smithsonian institution, with an increase of $43 million above 2009. i'm proud of the way we produced this bill. mr. simpson has been an outstanding ranking member whose thoughtful contributions over the course of 20 hearings has helped us to make this a better bill. we heard from 37 government w

these are great -- wildlife service. these are great institutions that deserve our support and to have somebody come in here and accuse us of not doing our work is an insult to myself and to mr. simpson. because we have done our work. we know what's in this bill. and it's a good bill. i yield back the balance of my time. and urge a no vote on this amendment. the chair: the gentleman yields. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. jordan: madam chair, i ask for a recorded vote, please. the chair: the gentleman asks for a recorded vote. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: part b, amendment number 6 printed in house report 111-184 offered by mr. stearns of florida. the chair: pursu

to make sure we protected wild life and species because to live without animals for roosevelt or wildlife was to live in utter pain in a modern condition of commerce and not romance. he was a scientist, roosevelt, but he got romantic excitement, really, from the wild and from seeing species in the wild. >> so here at this center, the national conservation training center of the fish and wildlife service, this place is paid for by the taxpayer. do you think they know about it? >> no, this is one of the reasons i wanted you to come and i am glad you came here. they have a great archive here. for example, i was looking at the oregon coast, you look at the pacific coast of washington, oregon, roosevelt saving them. you see them on the map and he saved those and the early photography. he was interested in wild life photography. he had a man from oregon, another one of the guys i deal with in my book. he would show him pictures of wild orlando magic. roosevelt went up to portland and met him once and it became the movement to save the wild life of oregon. the states, particularly in the west an

i have not given up on the alaskan wildlife preserve, i did not receive the votes but just because, just because you have not been successful, this does not mean that you throw in the towel. in the committee, the chairman has made the issue of revenue very clear, to the people on the side. he disagrees with this. that is just it. so how this will play out as we move forward -- >> what risk well barbara boxer raise if she tries to effect the legislation, this during the time for the peak price of oil as she prepares for an election? is there any specific risk that she may see? >> she is a smart woman, she is thinking about all of this. >> what do you perceive as her calculation? >> if the price of oil goes up, and the attention starts to refocus, on what they pay at the gas pump, i think the calculus will change. we have all seen the list of priorities, when the individuals were asked, what is the major issue, the economy was number one, the environment or moving to -- climate change was no. 20. and if people are still losing their jobs and worried about their homes, and they are scale --

after this was done, the wildlife would be ok. the gold miners one in that case. they had to deal with deference in decisions that have been carefully made by the administrative agency. the case involving the water going from a nuclear reactor, the cost-benefit analysis was something the agency carefully thought out. the best available technology could of been so good that you cannot have put more water back into the stream. the opinion says, no, the agency can decide what is the best technology reasonable. in the case with the whales pickle the submarine, there has to be some deference to the judgment -- whales versus the submarine, there has to be some deference to the judgment. there was a speculative argument about injury to the whales. in the gold mining case, both the epa and the army corps of engineers had been working for years to determine who would have which permitting authority under which circumstances, whether it was billfill. they worked out an agreement where both agencies would work together. the court finally decided that we are not going to subs

a look at 100 different programs saying that he has found wasteful spending, including a turtle wildlife crossing that he says cost $3,000,000.8000 social security checks that were sent to people who are deceased. first, kitty kelley whether or not this report is credible and in your opinion, and if so, has the administration addressed this? >> i've seen parts of this report and i have seen parts of our response. i think there is a longer more detailed response that we would be happy to provide you, but a number of things looked to be an accurate in the quote unquote second opinion itself. there appear to be the assumption that projects are being funded using recovery money, which isn't true. i think the very first project that outline is a decision that ultimately is made by the state, not by the feds in terms of how particular revolving fund money is used. so i think there are a number of entries throughout this report that are just up the wrong. this president has taken historic steps to insure that there is adequate transparency, and that this money is spent the way it's intended to

wildlife depends on -- like toledo. we must continue to protect our wetlands and our streams to bolster our fisheries, to increase habitat restoration and recreational opportunities throughout the great lakes. it will mean coming from the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance from all five of the great lakes. it will then mean billions of investment dollars around the in recreation, in fishing, in economic development, in safe drinking water. this includes these -- these efforts include reducing the number of combined sewage overflows into our waterways and removing the toxic sediments that were dumped into the rivers leading into the great lakes, the ashtabula and others before the glean water act. after years of hard work, continuing restoration of the cuyahoga is a symbol of progress and a symbol of success. the community restoration effort in the cuyahoga is an indication of the undeniable importance of the e.p.a. and the clean water act. it's a testament to what can be accomplished when c

cargo ship, dumped those, put them on a truck and let them go, this was carried out by the fish and wildlife service. you just open the door, everybody runs out and you see what happens. then just leave the door open and they hang around. from 1950 to 1960, there were rumors they had been killed off by wolves or bears. you would see them walking down the road, and people realized they had shored up they had reproduced, 200 of them. severe winters knocked the heard down. they're not an indigenous animal unless you count being indigenous as 4,000 years ago. some people think they were in alaska and sold 300 years ago. that seems like bogus information. it comes down to one skull that someone found in anchorage that was recovered behind an archaeologist's home. it was radiocarbon dated at 250 years ago. the problem is i live with a geneticist in oxford at oxford university who analyze that skull and she told me in no uncertainty that the animal had never stepped foot alive, she thought it came from the great plains. that is the evidence that they were here at the time of european contact. they

and they listed a whole series of other animals and wildlife and so on and so forth that they're worried about, and i understand that. but why not provide assistance to relocate fewer than 100 people from harm's way? furthermore, e.p.a. told me a ten-year time frame is estimated for complete waste remediation due to the -- due to the continual mine collapses. i wonder if environmental cleanup will ever be completed. now, mr. president -- madam president, i think it is in the best interest of all taxpayers to quit throwing money down sink holes and provide an opportunity for 100 folks who have no other options to move as their homes are worth nothing. mr. president -- madam president, we don't need to spend, again, $25 million on a problem that won't be solved, topsoil on top of the sink hole. we need to take care of these people and spend $3 million to let them get on with their lives. while american taxpayers are spending untold millions to prevent mortgage collapses, i can see no better use for this stimulus plan than to get the residents of treece into safe homes. now, i said once bef

after this was done, there was going to be restoration of the wildlife. that was the small fish versus the gold miners, and the minuters won. really, those cases aside from the standing case had to do with deference to decisions that had been carefully made by the administration. in the case involving the water going from the nuclear reactor, the cost-benefit analysis was something that the agency had carefully thought out and the best available technology could have been so good that you could not have put any water back into the stream, and justice scalia's opinion said no, no, no, there is some play for the agency to decide what is the best available technology reasonably is. in the case of the whales versus the submarines, the court said there has to be some deference to the military officials and we have to give some difference against some of the speculative argument of injury to whales. in the goal mining case, the e.p.a. and the army corps of engineers had been working for years to determine who would have which permanenting -- permitting authorit

. >> rob: right wildlife we had that day off we had a look at a consumate pitcher, levon hernandez, does not have any great pitch in his repertoire. >> johnny: lost something off the fastball. but he can mix it up. >> rob: eye level, speeds, whatever it takes to win. not 98. i love strasburg has the great 100 miles per hour fastball and the heater, but the second and third time i face this guy what is he thinking i'm going to throw, that's pitching in the big leagues. leave on, i think he showed a lot of our kids how to do it without great ability. >> johnny: the 2-0 to cueto, don't want to lose him. . >> rob: no. >> rob: that's going to drive maddox nuts to walk the opposing pitcher. rob when you came up and when you -- he walks him. and you made your debut in the major leagues was there a guy on that cincinnati team that kind of took you under his wing and showed you the right way? >> rob: they all did. i mean as far as in the bullpen it was wonderful, johnny franko, frank williams, johnny murphy were all seasoned veterans. for someone who started in the minor leagues, johnny franko st

after this was done, there was going to be restoration of the wildlife. that was the small fish versus the gold miners, and the minuters won. really, those cases aside from the standing case had to do with deference to decisions that had been carefully made by the administration. in the case involving the water going from the nuclear reactor, the cost-benefit analysis was something that the agency had carefully thought out and the best available technology could have been so good that you could not have put any water back into the stream, and justice scalia's opinion said no, no, no, there is some play for the( they had finally worked out their differences and come to an afwreement where both agencies worked together, and in this case both agencies issued permits, and the court decided we are not going to substitute our judgment for what the agencies have done with respect to their allegation of responsibility under the clean water ack. >> thank you. let me move on now. john, what should we say about the first amendment this term? >> well, the first amend

it is important to keep in mind that we need to adjust our definitions of wildlife and this notion of this genetic purity and disease free thing gets out of hand, we are going to take another step back, and be less close to restoring these things in an ecological, not just genetic, way. anybody have any questions? [applause] i answered everything. thank you very much for coming. >> steven rinella is the author of the scavenger cuisine. he is a correspondent for outside magazine and his writing has been in several publications including the new yorker, men's journal and the new york times. more information visit the author's website at stephenrinella.com. the public affairs imprint is part of the perseus books group and at the book expo america's this year, public affairs is doing something different, susan weinbergers the publisher. wenner you doing here? >> the group decided to take up the challenge to publish a book in 48 hours, which led from the opening day to today. if you want to stop by and celebrate, the addie at is to showcase a lot of things that are happening in publishing.

the years, and there are various lone operators who like to go out into the wilderness and whack wildlife, including wild horses and often what happens is authorities look the other way because the horse has been so deuponnized and there are -- demonized and there are certain constituencies which would like to see our great partner removed from the range. to kind of take a closer look at this dark side of our war against the wild horse, i've been -- i have visited the massacre site in the virginia range several times. and i've gone out there with a couple of the women who are often called to the site of these incidents, and they run a sanctuary in carson city called wild horse spirit, they rescue abandoned and wounded and wild mustangs and they, meaning kellyanne bobby have been my guides into this area for quite some time. so i want to read this passage about a recent trip of mine up into the virginia range. we had arrived and we parked near the site and walked up a rise. it was springtime and the stands of sage were puffy with rain and fragrance. except for our footsteps, it was quiet.

they are due, all of the respect that a national park, national wildlife refuge, state park would do. as you think forward on those transmission lines that hav á/Å7 rr afternoon. consumers energy our principal subsidiary serves 1.8 million electric customers, and gas customers in the lower peninsula of michigan. i would suggest we have a bit of a unique opportunity having developed, own and operated transmission assets along with distribution and generation assets for a century consumers energy now no longer owns transmission assets, we sold our transmission system in 2002 and now independently operated. we, therefore, appreciate the difficulty in citing new transmission and support federal backstop authority for new interstate lines as a last resort. we also see a need for new transmission in michigan to interconnect new wind resources that are being developed in the thumb and particularly along the lake michigan shore line as part of the new portfolio standard compliance standard in the state of michigan. new transmission development should meet three common sense principles. number

killing, alaska is next to some degree but at the same time we believe in alaska the management of our wildlife is very important if you look at everything from the wild life to the fisheries i think when it comes to any state in this country we do a very good management technique to ensure that tax may be wolf, fish, bear, caribou, moose, whatever the wild life is that we are managing it in a very careful way because we not only have everything from hunters and alaskan natives that utilize animals for subsistence lifestyle. we have sports hunting, we have monde sports hunting and people like myself who are my family goes out fishing and we eat fish a lot in our household and if it's not once we get this multiple times. so, it's a very careful management system we have in alaska. from the outside sometimes it may not look as well done as some people might like to think but i think we do a very good job the issue of wolfpack is very controversy will not only around the country but at times within alaska itself. >> host: the final call, shame on the independence line from ridgely iowa. >> caller:

through that have no value added in terms of the permitting process, that there's a way to protect wildlife, a way to address environmental values, a way to go to these processes and not take the kind of time we are seeing with many of these applications. >> i agree and i just want to remark on mr. hibbard's optimism that offshore wind can be as significant as it can and the fact that it is a proximate to load centers and that is an important consideration as opposed to putting in a lot of transmission. so, i appreciate that and also the observation about putting in a large capacities can have a negative impact unknowables so those comments are appreciated and with that i will yield back. >> the gentleman's time has expired and the chair recognize the gentleman from washington state, mr. inslee. >> thank you. i wanted to read a portion of commissioner azar's testimony and ask a couple of questions of the three of you about it. commissioner azar said congress can and should play an important role in catalyzing state efforts by setting clear mandates in guidelines as well as strict guidelines

that there's a way to protect wildlife and there's a way to address environmental values and there's a way to go through these processes and not take the kind of time that we're seeing with many of these applications. >> okay. i agree. and i just want to remark on mr. hibbard's optimism that offshore wind can be as significant as it can. and the fact that it's proximate to load centers and that's an important consideration as posed to putting in a lot of transmission. so i appreciate that. and also, the observation about just putting in large transmission capacity. can have a negative impact on renewables. so those are appreciated, those comments are appreciated. and with that, i'll yield back. >> the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington state, mr. hinsley. >> i want dodd read a little portion of commissioner azar's testimony and ask you questions about it. commissioner azar said congress should play an important role by setting clear mandates and guidelines, as well as strict deadlines for state and regional planning efforts. if the planni

seems like a lot of components increase nuclear power, exploration, and drilling in arctic national wildlife refuge in alaska. all of these issues have been debated and defeated in congress in recent years, particularly the issue of and more, and even dispute even among republicans -- anwr. why will this work now when it was rejected even when republicans were in control? guest: first of all, i think you've seen attitudes shift, especially last year and august when you saw gasoline prices go over $4 a gallon. you saw americans across the country saying, what is congress going about actually helping us to ensure energy independence? why is it we don't have a national energy policy in a country so great as america when they saw the effects of what it did in changing their lifestyles. people cutting back on things they do day-to-day because gasoline is so expensive. while a drop of a little under $2 a gallon just a few months ago, already back creeping toward $3 a gallon. people realize we cannot just go on the roller-coaster ride. that means exploring natural resources so we are not so depende

same is true in the state of virginia and they are to all of the respect that a national park or wildlife refuge and state park would be do so as you think forward on those transmission lines that have to be built make sure that we are avoiding the resources, the private resources as well as the public resources and make sure we medicate and compensate for the impacts of those resources. >> thank you mr. miller very much and our final witness is david joos, the chief executive officer of cms energy and chief executive officer of its principal subsidiary consumer energy. we welcome you sir. >> thank you mr. chairman, and thank you all azar pronouncing my name properly. i appreciate that. >> it took me one minute up here to get it right but i wanted to make sure. >> i appreciate the opportunity to address the subcommittee this afternoon. consumers energy our principal subsidiaries serves 1.8 million electric customers, 1.7 natural gas customers in the lower peninsula of michigan. at whitson just we have a unique opportunity having developed own and operate transmission assets along with dis

today allegheny hosts a 6,000 acre park named in his honor and known for its excellent wildlife viewing. the blue ridge parkway itself also cuts a scenic path in the county just a stone's throw from the county seat, sparta. it is a place of unique beauty and character right off the beaten path. from the pristine waters of the new river to the distinct sounds of its local bluegrass musical heritage, it is a one of a kind place found only in the great state of north carolina. the people here are friendly and welcoming, good-natured, and full of common sense. i'm proud to represent them in congress and proud to join them in celebrating the 150th anniversary of this fine county. madam speaker, i would also like to speak briefly this morning about the run away federal spending that we are seeing occurring in this congress. here are the facts on spending from this year. a $2 trillion deficit for f.y. 2009. the second traunch of the tarp allowed to be spent, $350 billion. the stimulus package, h.r. 1, $787 billion but over $1 trillion with debt cost. the omnibus appropriatis bill, $409 billion

after this was done there was going to be restoration of the wildlife. the gold miners won. but really those cases aside from the standing case have to do with deference to decisions that have been carefully bead by the administration i have agency. in the case involving the water going from the nuclear reactor, the cost benefit analysis was something that the agency has carefully thought out, and the best available technology could have been so good you couldn't have put any water back in the stream, and justice scalia's opinion says, no, no, no, there's some play in the joints to decide what's the best available technology. in the whales vs. the submarines, the judge says we have to give some deference to that against some of the speculative arguments about injury to do whales and in the gold mining case both the epa and the army corps of engineers had been working for years to determine who would have which permit being authority under what circumstances whether it was affluence or fill, and they had finally worked out their agency, and in this case both agencies eshooed

in order to extract coal from the ground, mountains are literally blasted apart, killing wildlife and animals and it causes severe health problems. over 1,200 streams in aplashea alone have been buried or contaminated because of mountain top mining. in order to prepare the coal for burning, an overamount of water is needed to clean the coal. 20 to 40 gallons are need creating slurry. over 90 million gallons of slurry are created every year while harvesting and preparing coal for burning. keep in mind we haven't begun to burn the stuff yet. green jobs are the key to economic and environmental progress in regions torn by surface and mountain top mining and struggling economically due to the destruction of the land. these include jobs in wind, electric and biofuel power. these will give them a long-term future for their families instead of a short-term paycheck in exchange for the quality of life. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without object

you know, i was a member of the world wildlife fund a long time ago when one of my classmates was the executive director. i had won a best drive it tree collections. i am on the national massu board. i am really a tree hugger and i have really m.a. tree hugger. i love the environment and i take oil spills really seriously. there's something to be avoided like the plague and i mean that. when five weeks ago they had that's built in australia, the beach was polluted. that is a sin. that is a real tragedy. remember the exxon valdez them all that happened there? these are things that you must focus on and you must make sure these things don't happen. in my country, one of the leading countries in trying to solve and protect against these types of problems. what these people don't understand is, if we don't do offshore drilling, indonesia will. and if you think we are sloppy about oil spills and what happens to the informant, you can't believe how sloppy indonesia is. the disaster in indonesia is the 1,000 times worse than it would ever be here and will have been far more frequently. to ge

this was carried out by the fish and wildlife service. they did something they called off how are release were you pull up, open the door, everybody runs out and see what happens. now the-- leave the door open in they would hang around. from 1950 to 1960 no one knew where the animals were. there are rumors they been killed off by wolves or died of disease. bush pilots would report seen them and strange places like walking down the road. after ten years people realized they had showed up in the area of the rivers, and they had reproduced between 100 to 200 of them. except for longbrake when severe winters not-- they are not technically, they are not technically an indigenous animal unless you count being indigenous maybe 4,000 years ago. some people think they were in alaska and stealth ranted years ago. it seems that is based on bogus information. it comes down to one school that someone found in anchorage, and it wasn't recover backhanded archaeologists. it was radiocarbon dated at 200 and 50 years ago. but the problem is i have met with

this situation because a court ruled after the last administration trampled through the fish and wildlife service, national marine ocean service and altered scientific findings, study, and opinions that we could no longer conduct the business of the central valley project. i didn't see my friends on the other side of the aisle raise one objection at the time those actions were taking place. at the time that criminal behavior was taking place. i didn't see them raise one objection when the morn rivers were destroyed and fishery seasons have been closed for years and families have lost their businesses, lost their livelihood, whether they were going to see the fish or there were small businesses on the north coast or small businesses on the oregon border and those political decisions were made, and they devastated the salmon runs, i didn't see that happen. we've seen now as the environment has deteriorated in the san francisco delta and bay area, small businesses have closed up, people have lost their livelihoods and yes it's very intense in the central valley. but i don't see some of my co

how about the oil-rich arctic national wildlife refuge? but that's off limits. and this senator has supported keeping that off limits. no, the reality is instead some of my colleagues in the senate now they want to come -- it's kind of like don't tax you, don't tax me, go tax that fellow under the tree. they want to go and hit somebody else. and they want to cut the heart and the lungs out of the united states military testing area and they want to come in and start fouling up the most beautiful beaches in the world in the northwest florida coast. three years ago we opened up that additional 8.3 million acres. we didn't allow any drilling any closer than 100 miles off of pensacola, 125 miles off of panama city, 237 miles off of tampa bay, and over 300 miles off of naples. and why are some people pushing to change this so soon after that compromise that was struck three years ago? it's the oil industry, that's why. the oil industry has those 33 million acres out here in the central and western gulf. it's leased. it's not being drilled, but that's not enough for t