Top 10 Questions for Mallory & McCabe

Promoting former Obama officials with a history of failed policies will not unite America.

WASHINGTON DC (March 3, 2021) – Today, the American Energy Alliance (AEA) issued ten suggested questions for today’s Senate Environment & Public Works Committee confirmation hearing for Brenda Mallory to serve as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and Janet McCabe to become the Deputy Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). CEQ advises the President and develops policies on environmental justice, federal sustainability, public lands, major infrastructure projects including pipelines and highways, and the U.S. EPA is responsible for the protection of human health and the environment. Combined, the two serve as critically important bodies impacting America’s energy and environmental issues. 

AEA President Thomas Pyle issued the following statement ahead of the hearing:

5 Questions for Brenda Mallory:

1. During your tenure under the Obama’s administration, you reported to newly installed domestic “climate czar” Gina McCarthy. There are a number of legal and policy concerns with the unaccountable role of these czars, including constitutional issues around the Appointments clause, specific statutory limits on their role (which provide limited, delegated authority to agencies and strict transparency requirements on White House/interagency role), unwillingness to provide Congressional testimony, FOIA applicability, and ethics requirements.
   • Could you explain in your own words your view of these czar positions and how you plan to interact with Ms. McCarthy?

2. According to publicly available tax records, your current employer, the Southern Environmental Law Center, between the years 2008-16 received approximately 41 grants totaling $10,750,000.00 from foundations requesting the law center attack coal and promote renewable energy under the guise of climate change. 
   • With this kind of paid advocacy in your history, how do you intend to remain impartial, fair and objective?  Will you recuse yourself on any matters connected to these foundations or the law center, which is currently involved in litigation on CEQ’s 2020 NEPA modernization rule?

3. The Biden administration appears fond of the term environmental justice. 
   • In your own words, could you please define what environmental justice means? Could the term be misused, abused, or altered to achieve a premeditated outcome?  Do you believe that energy companies intentionally target specific communities and seek to take advantage of them?  If so, how?

4. The Trump administration enacted several positive, commonsense regulatory reforms that promoted American energy development. However, the Biden administration has pledged to undue of the previous administration’s work as much as possible. 
   • Do you believe there are any actions the Trump administration took or regulations implemented that shouldn’t be changed? If so, which ones?

5. In an executive order aimed at tackling climate change, President Biden directed federal agencies to “eliminate fossil fuel subsidies as consistent with applicable law.” Mr. Biden also said he would ask Congress to end the $40 billion in fossil fuel subsidies through legislation. 
   • Do you know which subsidies President Biden was referring to since the fossil fuel industry receives tax deductions rather than tax subsidies, and many of the industry’s tax deductions are federal law? 

The estimated amount that the Production Tax Credit that funds wind power will cost taxpayers $40.12 billion from 2018 to 2027, making it the most expensive energy subsidy under current tax law, though the solar investment tax credit is giving wind competition for that honor. 

Do you think the President is confused, and if so, would it be your responsibility to educate him on this matter? 

5 Questions for Janet McCabe:

1. Roll Call, a Washington-DC newspaper labeled you the “architect,” and in a Newsweek Op-Ed you wrote, you declared yourself the “author” of EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) under the Obama administration.  
   • Given that the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of staying the CPP, what steps will you take to ensure that the Biden administration’s replacement for the CPP will fully comply with the law?

2. Your previous tenure at EPA was marked by approval of dozens of sue-and-settle arrangements with environmental NGOs and against states, as well as nontransparent coordination with activist groups. 
   • Will you recuse yourself on any matters connected to these foundations?

3. Communications obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) during your previous role at EPA revealed that you were using a non-government email address to coordinate with groups involved in the regulatory process and litigation, and therefore circumvented recordkeeping requirements by the federal government.  
   • Why should Members of Congress or the American people trust you this time? Can you pledge to this committee that you will not engage in this sort of effort to avoid transparency? 

4. China has a virtual monopoly on the processing of rare earth elements that are needed for high tech (smartphones and laptops), defense equipment, and so-call “green” energy technologies. It not only produces the majority of rare earth elements, but it has the most rare earth reserves. China’s market dominance enables it to control prices and put pressure on challengers that threaten its ‘Made in China 2025’ strategy to create a vertically integrated supply chain encompassing mining, magnets, and high-tech manufacturing. 
   • Do you believe China is mining these minerals in an environmentally responsible way? Do you believe the U.S. needs to move to regain control of its industrial future to implement these “green” energy policies? Or should it maintain reliance on China?

5. In 2010, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill passed in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives but failed in the Democratic-controlled Senate. 
   • If a cap-and-trade bill or carbon tax bill is passed by this Congress, what form do you think the tax should take: Is it an emissions tax, a fuel tax or a production tax?
   • Which greenhouse gases are covered? Which sources (if any) are exempt?
   • Ultimately, who pays the tax and how would the revenue be spent?

The confirmation hearing for Brenda Mallory and Janet McCabe is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am EST on March 3, 2021 in the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee.

Additional Resources:

• View Brenda Mallory’s Energy Resume
• Where Biden & His Administration Stand on Energy, A Look at Records & Public Statements