Lee campaigns for Trump in October. Photo: Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee might be a surprising hub for bipartisanship on geothermal and permitting issues next year.
Why it matters: Incoming Chair Mike Lee and ranking Democrat Martin Heinrich both bring a harder ideological edge to the committee, but their shared Western background could keep ENR legislatively active.
- "Mike and I have traveled together, so we've always had a very friendly relationship," Heinrich told Axios. "We have very different ideas, but it's been incredibly cordial."
Zoom in: Lee, who didn't respond to requests for comment, is a staunch conservative on public lands issues and has a reputation for blocking legislation on the Senate floor.
- He's drafted legislation that would give Congress more authority over Antiquities Act designations, a longtime point of contention for Western conservatives.
- As chair, he would mark a sharp stylistic departure from moderates Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski before him.
Between the lines: Still, lobbyists and committee observers we talked to said Lee has a solid staff and takes a thoughtful approach to legislation.
- Lee recently hired Wendy Baig, a longtime staffer who worked for him on the Judiciary Committee, to be his ENR chief of staff.
- "He's known to have a pretty smart staff that knows how to ask the right questions," said Scott Segal, cochair of Bracewell's Policy Resolution Group.
- "I believe that the bipartisanship on the committee will continue."
Heinrich pointed to geothermal as an area of possible collaboration.
- "We both have oil and gas industries in our state that are going to be able to use existing workforce, existing engineering, existing technology, to shift from producing hydrocarbons to producing heat," Heinrich said.
- Lee cosponsored Heinrich's Geothermal Energy Optimization Act, which would speed up permitting and require more frequent leasing for geothermal projects on public lands.
- Lee also voted for the Manchin-Barrasso permitting proposal in committee, and he's on Heinrich's Good Samaritan mine cleanup bill.
Friction point: Manchin and outgoing Ranking Member John Barrasso worked closely together and were generally aligned on supporting fossil fuels as part of the U.S. energy mix.
- That's likely to emerge as an area of disagreement next year, particularly as Republicans pursue a reconciliation bill that could bolster oil and gas leasing and peel back parts of the IRA.
- "We won't have as much help or cooperation on the Democrat side this go-around, so that may be more of a factor that makes us a little more pessimistic about what that committee can get through," said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance.
A more hardline approach from Lee may actually serve industry interests.
- Lee is "probably more willing than most Republicans to try to move through legislation even without that bipartisan support," Sgamma said, "so he might be beneficial in that sense."
