Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Guy Reschenthaler roasted President Joe Biden’s interior secretary, who appeared unprepared for the straightforward questioning, as he called out the current administration’s failed Green New Deal policies and rush-to-green agenda which he accused of deepening America’s dependence on China.
During a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Chief Deputy Whip Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) clashed with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland as he questioned the role of the Biden administration’s climate agenda in strengthening Communist China.
During the exchange, the former New Mexico congresswoman admitted to supporting the Green New Deal, but attempted avoiding answering whether she was aware that the Green New Deal bans fracking and clean coal.
Despite cosponsoring the bill, Haaland said she’d “be happy to look it up and refresh my memory on the bill.”
“I sponsored and cosponsored a lot of bills when I was in Congress,” she added.
Asked if she was aware the Green New Deal bans oil and gas leasing, Haaland awkwardly responds: “Thank you, Congressman.”
“Is that a yes?” Reschenthaler asks.
“If you’re telling me, and you’re reading it from there — yes,” she replies.
After being asked multiple times whether she continues to support the progressive economic proposals, Haaland admits to doing so:
Reschenthaler: Alright, so you would agree that the Green New Deal bans fracking, bans oil and gas leasing, and bans clean coal. Do you still support the Green New Deal?
Haaland: Congressman, as the Secretary…
Reschenthaler: It’s a yes or no. Do you support it or not?
Haaland: Well, I’m the Secretary of the Interior now. I’m no longer a member of Congress.
Reschenthaler: So, you do still support the Green New Deal? Yes or no.
Haaland: I, in my current capacity, I don’t… I’m not…
Reschenthaler: Would you still have co-sponsored the bill in the 116th Congress had you known that it banned all this?
Haaland: I’m not sure of the question. If I co-sponsored it…
Reschenthaler: Knowing all these points, would you still have co-sponsored the bill? It’s a very simple question.
Haaland: Thank you. I ran on the Green New Deal.
Reschenthaler: Thank you is your response? It’s yes or no. Would you still co-sponsor it or not?
Haaland: I co-sponsored it, yes.
Reschenthaler: Okay, and you don’t regret that?
Haaland: No.
Reschenthaler: And you still stand by your statement that you will 100 percent support the Green New Deal?
Haaland: As a member of Congress, yes.
Reschenthaler: Okay, I’m glad for the record we’ve established that.
After the congressman noted that electric vehicles and renewables are heavily dependent on critical minerals, and that China currently accounts for 63 percent of the world’s rare Earth mining, the interior secretary appeared uninformed, stating: “I don’t know what the percentage of what China produces, but you can tell me that and I will say thank you.”
“Well, I’m telling you right now that it is 63 percent of rare earth mining,” Reschenthaler reiterated.
He continues:
Reschenthaler: By deductive reasoning, that would mean that electric vehicles and renewables deepen our reliance on China, correct?
Haaland: Yes, okay.
Reschenthaler: Knowing this, your department blocked critical minerals in Rapid Creek Watershed, correct?
Haaland: Okay.
Reschenthaler: They did, correct?
Halland: Okay.
Reschenthaler: I mean, it’s your department and you banned critical mineral mining. Would you also agree that your department also banned it in Northeast Minnesota?
Haaland: Are you talking about the…
Reschenthaler: Critical mineral mining in Northeast Minnesota.
Haaland: Well, we did a mineral withdrawal in the boundary waters…
Reschenthaler: So, yes. You banned it there.
Haaland: I don’t know what kind of minerals were there. I don’t think they were critical minerals.
Reschenthaler: Okay, I can tell you that there were critical minerals in Northeast Minnesota.
Haaland: Okay.
Reschenthaler: I’m the co-chair of the Critical Minerals Caucus, so I can tell you that.
The congressman then pushes Haaland to understand her actions in context, to which she, again, fumbles as she answers.
Reschenthaler: Knowing that your department, under your leadership, banned the critical mineral mining in Rapid Creek Watershed and Northeast Minnesota, would you not say that those actions further deepened our reliance on China? It’s a yes or no.
Haaland: I… No, because critical minerals can be mined in other areas of our country.
Reschenthaler: Let me get this straight. You banned the mining of critical minerals in places like Rapid Creek Watershed, in Northeast Minnesota, where we have tons of environmental protections. You also just told me that China is accountable for the majority of critical minerals, and before that, you told me that EVs and renewables are heavily dependent on critical minerals. And now you’re telling me that you banning critical mineral mining in the United States doesn’t deepen our dependence on China? Explain that.
Halland: May I say something, Congressman?
Reschenthaler: Of course.
Haaland: Thank you very much. Since January 2021, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved 20 new mines or mine modifications or expansions.
Reschenthaler: I’m talking specifically about critical mineral mining, and you just told me that your department banned critical mineral mining in Rapid Creek Watershed in Northeast Minnesota. You also told me that we’re heavily dependent on China. Would your actions not make us more heavily dependent on China? It’s a yes or no.
Haaland: Since 2021, the BLM has approved 20 new mines or mine modifications or expansions.
Reschenthaler: I’m talking about critical mineral mining — not just any mines.
Haaland: We’ve… we’re approving minerals… we’re approving mines.
Reschenthaler responded by arguing that a “reasonable person” would view Haaland’s actions and concede they have “made us further dependent on China, particularly with rare earth elements.”
The exchange follows Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm doubling down last week on her praise of China for being the world’s largest “clean energy” technology investor, despite it also being the world’s largest emitter of CO2.
During that House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Reschenthaler slammed Granholm’s “alarming” claim “we can all learn from what China is doing” on the environment, along with another remark that the U.S. did not have the moral authority to criticize China.
According to the United States State Department under the Donald Trump administration, China has a dismal and even dangerous record when it comes to the environment:
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases; the largest source of marine debris; the worst perpetrators of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and the world’s largest consumer of trafficked wildlife and timber products. While the Chinese people have suffered the worst environmental impacts of its actions, Beijing also threatens the global economy and global health by unsustainably exploiting natural resources and exporting its willful disregard for the environment through its One Belt One Road initiative. Tragically, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) represses civil society and a free press, slowing changes that would benefit its citizens and people all over the world.
“China dumps millions and millions of tons of plastic and trash into the oceans, overfishes other countries’ waters, destroys vast swaths of coral reef, and emits more toxic mercury into the atmosphere than any country anywhere in the world,” Trump said in the State Department report on China.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.