Bookmark and Share

More press releases

For Immediate Release, June 24, 2013

Contact:  Bill Snape, (202) 536-9351, bsnape@biologicaldiversity.org

188 Groups Call on Pelosi to Name Rep. Grijalva as Ranking Democrat on
House Natural Resources Committee

Coalition Includes Conservation, Hispanic, Scientific, Religious, Labor and Youth Groups  

WASHINGTON— In a letter sent today, a broad coalition of almost 200 conservation, Hispanic, scientific, recreation, animal welfare, religious, labor, youth, business, border, women’s and tribal groups urged House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to select Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) as the next ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources to replace Ed Markey, who is widely expected to win a U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday. Grijalva is currently ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation and a leading Democratic voice on the House Natural Resources Committee. 

“The House Republican Leadership has led an all-out attack on the nation’s bedrock environmental protection statutes, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The Natural Resources Committee has been one of the focal points of the Republican Party’s assault on the environment,” says the letter. “We believe it is important that the next ranking member represent the core environmental and human rights values of the Democratic Party on the Committee, someone with the passion and commitment to stand up to the radically anti-environmental House Republican agenda.”

Kierán Suckling, director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said: “Congressman Grijalva is a visionary leader with the courage and practical skills to solve the long list of pressing environmental issues our country faces. There’s no better person for leading the Democrats, as well as moderate Republicans, on the House Natural Resources Committee. For too long the oil, gas, mining and industrial development interests have had the Natural Resources Committee in their pocket, but Rep. Grijalva would help put the American people before polluters.

“As co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressman Grijalva has been a strong force for environmental stewardship, protection of public lands and resources, and economic justice. Grijalva’s leadership and thorough understanding of complex issues throughout his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives makes him the ideal candidate to eventually chair the Natural Resources Committee,” said Suckling.

The groups include CREDO Action, Latina Lista, Blue Ocean Institute, Kickapoo Peace Circle, Green Faith, Wilderness Watch, Wolf Conservation Center, High Country Citizen’s Alliance, Cascadia Wildlands, Earth Day Network, California Native Plant Society, Endangered Habitats League, Living Rivers, One More Generation, Public Interest Coalition, Nature in the City, Western Wildlife Conservancy, and numerous Audubon and Riverkeeper chapters throughout the country. 

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 500,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


Go back