To watch a video of Senator Manchin’s opening remarks, please click here.

To watch a video of Senator Manchin’s questioning, please click here.

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to consider the nominations of Ms. Maria D. Robinson to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for the Office of Electricity, Dr. Joseph F. DeCarolis to be Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, and Ms. Laura Daniel-Davis to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management. During the hearing, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Committee, reaffirmed his support for Ms. Daniel-Davis and highlighted the need to work together to improve the federal leasing programs and ensure America’s energy security.

“Ms. Daniel-Davis, I think what we are [all] trying to say is that we know the previous administration acted very swiftly; and quickly; and sometimes, maybe, too hastily. And we saw some problems [with oil and gas leasing]; we’ve identified those problems. What we’re concerned about is they weren’t fixed. it’s pretty much like we know what the court outcome was going to be, but we let it happen. We’re not blaming you. We understand there’s other powers that be, and we’re honing in on that pretty hard. [But], we want to work with you to identify any problems there might be in future leasing,” said Chairman Manchin.

Chairman Manchin then questioned Ms. Maria Robinson about maintaining baseload energy sources to ensure the reliability and security of the nation’s electric grid.

“I’m concerned about reliability. I see what Europe’s going through. I’m all for the clean energy, I’m all for doing what we do cleaner… Where do you stand on making sure reliability is at the foremost of what we do?” asked Chairman Manchin.

“For the Office of Electricity, reliability is the number one concern and will be my number one concern. I think there are lots of things we need to do in order to do that, including grid capability upgrades that will come through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill,” said Ms. Robinson.

To read the nominees’ testimony, please click here.

To watch the hearing in full, please click here.

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