The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is a

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and mineral resources, including nuclear development; irrigation and reclamation, territorial possessions of the United States, trust lands appertaining to America's indigenous peoples, and the conservation, use, and disposition of federal lands. Its roots go back to the Committee on Interior and Insulars Affairs. In 1977, it became the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and most matters regarding Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians were removed from its jurisdiction and transferred to the

Committee on Indian Affairs The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is a committee of the United States Senate charged with oversight in matters related to the American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples. A Committee on Indian Affairs existed from 1820 to 19 ...

History

The Committee on Public Lands was created in 1816 during the 14th Congress chaired by senator Jeremiah Morrow. In its early years, it managed the settlement of the recently purchased Missouri Territory. Over time, the committee oversaw the western expansion of the United States, including the Texas annexation, the

Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to ...

, the Mexican Cession, and the Gadsden Purchase. The

Homestead Act of 1860 The Homestead Act of 1860 in the United States would have made land available for 25 cents per acre. This act was passed by the United States Congress, but was ultimately vetoed by President James Buchanan.Department of the Interior was established, with the Public Lands Committee serving as legislative oversight. The committee became responsible for enacting legislation to conserve nature and its resources. Due to the actions of the committee, Congress began working towards preservation of forests, wilderness, and historical landmarks with the signing of the

Antiquities Act The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ), is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential pro ...

in 1906 and the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916. The committee has gone under a number of name changes, but the functions and policy have remained similar to its creation. In 1921, the committee merged with the Committee on Geological Surveys to become the Committee of Public Lands and Surveys. Following the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, it became the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, absorbing the jurisdiction of the

Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Al ...

, Territorial and Insular Affairs, Mines and Mining, and Irrigation and Reclamation committees. Its most recent iteration, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, was established on February 4, 1977, after the Committee System Reorganization Amendments of 1977.

Legislation

Current Year

See also: Senator Roger Marshall introduced a bill on March 1, 2022, banning US imports of Russian oil, supported by the GOP minority leader of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and seven other Republicans. The first move by a Western nation to impose a flat blockade on Russian petroleum, its top moneymaker, came a day prior from Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that it "sends a powerful message."

Notable Past Legislation

Jurisdiction

In accordance of Rule XXV of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects is referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: # Coal production, distribution, and

utilization * Rental utilization - economy * Capacity utilization - load on some process * Utilization management Utilization management (UM) or utilization review is the use of managed care techniques such as prior authorization that allow payers, particular ...

; #

Energy policy Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to con ...

; #

Energy regulation Energy laws govern the use and taxation of energy, both renewable and non-renewable. These laws are the primary authorities (such as caselaw, statutes, rules, regulations and edicts) related to energy. In contrast, energy policy refers t ...

and conservation; # Energy related aspects of deepwater ports; # Energy research and development; # Extraction of minerals from oceans and Outer Continental Shelf lands; # Hydroelectric power, irrigation, and reclamation; # Mining education and research; # Mining, mineral lands, mining claims, and mineral conservation; #

National parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

, recreation areas,

wilderness areas Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

, wild and scenic rivers, historical sites, military parks and battlefields, and on the public domain, preservation of prehistoric ruins and objects of interest; # Naval petroleum reserves in Alaska; # Nonmilitary development of nuclear energy; # Oil and gas production and distribution; #

Public lands In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land ( Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countr ...

and forests, including

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

and grazing thereon, and

mineral extraction Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

therefrom; # Solar energy systems; and, # Territorial possessions of the United States, including trusteeships. The Committee is also charged to "study and review, on a comprehensive basis, matters relating to energy and resources development, and report thereon from time to time."

Members, 117th Congress

Subcommittees

The Energy Committee has four subcommittees:

Chairpersons

Committee on Public Lands, 1816–1921

* Jeremiah Morrow (R-OH) 1816–1819 * Thomas Williams (R-MS) 1819–1820 * Jesse Thomas (R-IL) 1820–1823 * David Barton (NR-MO) 1823–1831 *

William R. King William Rufus DeVane King (April 7, 1786 – April 18, 1853) was an American politician and diplomat. He was the 13th vice president of the United States from March 4 until his death in April 1853. Earlier he had served as a U.S. represent ...

(D-AL) 1831–1832 *

Elias Kane Elias Kent Kane (June 7, 1794December 12, 1835) was the first Illinois Secretary of State and a U.S. Senator from Illinois. Early life He was born in New York City, to merchant Capt. Elias Kent Kane and Deborah VanSchelluyne of Dutchess County, ...

(D-IL) 1832–1833 *

George Poindexter George Poindexter (April 19, 1779 − September 5, 1853) was an American politician, lawyer and judge from Mississippi. Born in Virginia, he moved to the Mississippi Territory in 1802. He served as United States Representative from the newly ad ...

(W-MS) 1833–1835 *

Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is al ...

(W-OH) 1835–1836 * Robert Walker (D-MS) 1836–1841 * Oliver Hampton Smith (W-IN) 1841–1843 *

William Woodbridge William Woodbridge (August 20, 1780October 20, 1861) was a U.S. statesman in the states of Ohio and Michigan and in the Michigan Territory prior to statehood. He served as the second Governor of Michigan and a United States Senator from Mi ...

(W-MI) 1843–1845 *

Sidney Breese Sidney Breese (July 15, 1800 – June 27, 1878), a lawyer, soldier, author and jurist born in New York, became an early Illinois pioneer and represented the state in the United States Senate as well as served as Chief Justice of the Illinois S ...

(D-IL) 1845–1849 *

Alpheus Felch Alpheus Felch (September 28, 1804June 13, 1896) was the fifth governor of Michigan and U.S. Senator from Michigan. Early life Felch was born in Limerick (in modern-day Maine, then a part of Massachusetts). He was left an orphan at the age of t ...

(D-MI) 1849–1853 * Solon Borland (D-AR) 1853 * Augustus Dodge (D-IA) 1853–1855 *

Charles E. Stuart Charles Edward Stuart (November 25, 1810May 19, 1887) was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan. Biography Stuart was born in New York, either near Waterloo, New York, or in Columbia County. He studied law, was ad ...

(D-MI) 1855–1859 * Robert W. Johnson (D-AR) 1859–1861 * James Harlan (R-IA) 1861–1865 *

Samuel Pomeroy Samuel Clarke Pomeroy (January 3, 1816 – August 27, 1891) was a United States senator from Kansas in the mid-19th century. He served in the United States Senate during the American Civil War. Pomeroy also served in the Massachusetts House of ...

(R-KS) 1865–1873 * William Sprague (R-RI) 1873–1875 *

Richard Oglesby Richard James Oglesby (July 25, 1824April 24, 1899) was an American soldier and Republican politician from Illinois, The town of Oglesby, Illinois, is named in his honor, as is an elementary school situated in the Auburn Gresham neighborho ...

(R-IL) 1875–1879 *

Joseph E. McDonald Joseph Ewing McDonald (August 29, 1819 – June 21, 1891) was an American politician who served as a United States representative and Senator from Indiana. He also served as Indiana's 2nd Attorney General and unsuccessfully sought the Demo ...

(D-IN) 1879–1881 * Preston Plumb (R-KS) 1881–1891 * Joseph N. Dolph (R-OR) 1891–1893 * James H. Berry (D-AR) 1893–1895 *

Fred T. Dubois Fred Thomas Dubois (May 29, 1851February 14, 1930) was a controversial American politician from Idaho who served two terms in the United States Senate. He was best known for his opposition to the gold standard and his efforts to disenfranchise ...

(R-ID) 1895–1897 * Henry C. Hansbrough (R-ND) 1897–1908 *

Knute Nelson Knute Nelson (born Knud Evanger; February 2, 1843 – April 28, 1923) was an American attorney and politician active in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A Republican, he served in state and national positions: he was elected to the Wisconsin and Minnesot ...

(R-MN) 1908–1912 *

Reed Smoot Reed Smoot (January 10, 1862February 9, 1941) was an American politician, businessman, and apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). First elected by the Utah State Legislature to the U.S. Senate in 1902, he serv ...

(R-UT) 1912–1913 * George E. Chamberlain (D-OR) 1913–1915 *

Henry L. Myers Henry Lee Myers (October 9, 1862 – November 11, 1943) was a United States senator from Montana. Biography Born near Boonville, Missouri, he attended Cooper Institute and Boonville Academy, both private schools. He studied law and was admit ...

(D-MT) 1915–1919 *

(R-UT) 1919–1921

Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, 1921–1947

(R-UT) 1921–1923 * Irvine L. Lenroot (R-WI) 1923–1924 *

Edwin F. Ladd Edwin Fremont Ladd (December 13, 1859June 22, 1925) was an American chemist, academic administrator, and politician. While serving in the United States Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Public Roads and Surveys during the sixty-eighth C ...

(R-ND) 1924 * Robert Nelson Stanfield (R-OR) 1924–1927 * Gerald P. Nye (R-ND) 1927–1933 *

John B. Kendrick John Benjamin Kendrick (September 6, 1857 – November 3, 1933) was an American politician and cattleman who served as a United States senator from Wyoming and as the ninth Governor of Wyoming as a member of the Democratic Party. Early life ...

(D-WY) 1933 *

Robert F. Wagner Robert Ferdinand Wagner I (June 8, 1877May 4, 1953) was an American politician. He was a Democratic U.S. Senator from New York from 1927 to 1949. Born in Prussia, Wagner migrated with his family to the United States in 1885. After graduating ...

(D-NY) 1933–1937 *

Alva B. Adams Alva Blanchard Adams (October 29, 1875 – December 1, 1941) was a Democratic politician who represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1923 until 1924 and again from 1933 to 1941. Biography Adams was born in Del Norte, Colorado a ...

(D-CO) 1937–1941 * Carl A. Hatch (D-NM) 1941–1947

Committee on Public Lands, 1947–1948

* Hugh Butler (R-NE) 1947–1948

Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, 1948–1977

* Hugh Butler (R-NE) 1948–1949 *

Joseph C. O'Mahoney Joseph Christopher O'Mahoney (November 5, 1884December 1, 1962) was an American journalist, lawyer, and politician. A Democrat, he served four complete terms as a U.S. Senator from Wyoming on two occasions, first from 1934-1953 and then again f ...

(D-WY) 1949–1953 * Hugh Butler (R-NE) 1953–1954 * Guy Cordon (R-OR) 1954–1955 *

James E. Murray James Edward Murray (May 3, 1876March 23, 1961) was an American politician and United States Senator from Montana, and a liberal leader of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States Senate from 1934 until 1961. Background Born on a fa ...

(D-MT) 1955–1961 * Clinton P. Anderson (D-NM) 1961–1963 * Scoop Jackson (D-WA) 1963–1977

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 1977–present

* Scoop Jackson (D-WA) 1977–1981 * James McClure (R-ID) 1981–1987 *

Bennett Johnston John Bennett Johnston Jr. (born June 10, 1932) is a retired American attorney, politician, and later lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnston represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate from 1972 to 1997. Beginning his political caree ...

(D-LA) 1987–1995 *

Frank Murkowski Frank Hughes Murkowski (born March 28, 1933) is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was a United States Senator from Alaska from 1981 until 2002 and the eighth governor of Alaska from 2002 until 2006. In his 2006 re- ...

(R-AK) 1995–2001 *

Jeff Bingaman Jesse Francis "Jeff" Bingaman Jr. (born October 3, 1943) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1983 to 2013, for 5 terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Chairman of Committee Outre ...

(D-NM) 2001 *

(R-AK) 2001 *

(D-NM) 2001–2003 *

Pete Domenici Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici (May 7, 1932 – September 13, 2017) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1973 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served six terms in the ...

(R-NM) 2003–2007 *

(D-NM) 2007–2013 * Ron Wyden (D-OR) 2013–2014 * Mary Landrieu (D-LA) 2014–2015 *

Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...

(R-AK) 2015–2021 * Joe Manchin (D-WV) 2021–present

Historical committee rosters

116th Congress

;Subcommittees

115th Congress

;Subcommittees Source

References

External links

Official Committee WebsiteArchive

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
– Legislation activity and reports,

Congress.gov Congress.gov is the online database of United States Congress legislative information. Congress.gov is a joint project of the Library of Congress, the House, the Senate and the Government Publishing Office. Congress.gov was in beta in 2012, a ...

{{United States congressional committees Energy Energy in the United States Environment of the United States 1816 establishments in Washington, D.C. Organizations established in 1816