‘Are You Serious?’ Josh Hawley Goes to War With Biden’s Interior Secretary Over Jobs Versus Protecting the Environment

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Interior Secretary Deb Haaland testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday and received a harsh grilling from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) as Haaland fought to defend her department.

Hawley began his questioning, saying, “I just want to come back, Madam Secretary, to this trade-off between energy security and the radical climate change agenda that you’ve endorsed, which is a less energy security for America, more radical climate change agenda.”

Hawley then spend several minutes grilling Haaland about which countries are the world’s top producers of the minerals needed to make lithium-ion batteries. After noting that China was a key producer of minerals like cobalt, Hawley finally asked Haaland, “Why block the development of these resources in our own nation in favor of making us dependent on China?”

Haaland replied by trying to understand to which specific project Hawley was referring. She then defended blocking a mine in Minnesota, noting it is “near the Boundary Waters, which is an iconic place and, of course, a very valuable ecological system to many plants, animals, species.”

Hawley cut in and added, “But jobs for — let me just say this, though, that jobs for blue-collar workers in this nation are valuable resources. The livelihood and well-being of American families are valuable resources. The ability of America to have our own industry and not be dependent on China is a valuable resource.”

“Why should those things for millions of Americans be sacrificed in in favor of your agenda for radical climate change?” Hawley asked.

“Senator, I know that there is like 1.9 jobs for every American in the country right now. So I know there’s a lot of jobs,” Haaland replied.

A very animated Hawley then interjected, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Wait a minute, Wait a minute. You’re telling me you’re telling me we’ve got too many jobs in the country?”

“Well, I’m saying that we don’t have enough people. That’s why we are having a hard time finding folks to work at our department,” Haaland clarified.

“Oh, wait. You’re telling me that we have too many jobs for blue-collar work? Have you seen the number of jobs we have lost in this country to China in the last 20 years? Do you know where those jobs come from? Over 3 million jobs have gone to China. Do you know where those jobs have come from? They’ve come out of Midwestern towns like the ones I represent. They are blue-collar workers. And you’re sitting here and telling me that we have too many jobs in this country. Are you serious?” Hawley demanded.

“Senator, we are working hard every single day. There are, we processed 20 mining applications, 20 mines or mining modification permits since January of 2021. We are moving forward. We’re doing our jobs, were fulfilling our mission and moving forward,” Haaland shot back.

“You’re moving backward. You’re shutting down and denying permits for mines in this country where we can develop our own resources. You’re shutting down oil and natural gas permits. You’re approving taxes and royalties that deliberately suppress American energy development in favor of a climate change agenda,” Hawley replied, dropping a heated monologue:

And now you’re sitting here and telling me we’ve got too many jobs in this country. We’ve got gobs of jobs in this country. We don’t need any more jobs in this country. I want to take the strongest possible exception to that comment and that, too, that entire mentality, which I think is very honest.

I think it reflects the mentality of your administration, which is when it comes to blue-collar workers in this country, you’re on your own. Good luck. Good luck to you. We got plenty. You know, just shut up and go get a job at McDonald’s, you know, whatever. No more. Quit complaining about the loss of American industry. I mean, good Lord, That is extraordinary. What an extraordinary response.

“May I say something?” Haaland asked after Hawley’s verbal lashing.

“Absolutely. The rest of the time is yours,” Hawley said.

“Thank you. Contrary to that, we have created a number of jobs,” Haaland replied, adding:

We have an orphan oil, orphan gas program where we have kept orphan oil well, oil and gas wells. An abandoned mine reclamation project that has lifted whole communities up and reclaiming their mine lands that have that have devastated their communities. These folks have been out of jobs for years. And now because of the bipartisan infrastructure law, because of the Inflation Reduction Act, they found new ways to engage and not only have jobs, but but have a vision for what they want their communities to look like. We have plugged orphan gas wells in people’s backyards in Pennsylvania, and we’re doing so in California and Texas.

These are things. These are communities that rely on this government to find a way forward for them. There is, unfortunately, a dearth of legacy pollution in this country. Those are jobs, good paying, well, well-paying jobs with benefits that Americans are having because of President Biden and his policies. And we’re proud to move those issues and those programs forward for the American people.

Not buying it, Hawley concluded by doubling down:

My time has expired. I’ll just say in conclusion again. Trading off American energy security in favor of your radical climate change agenda, losing, shutting down good paying American jobs in our energy sector, and then saying the explanation is we’ve got plenty of jobs in this country, I think is the most potentially and this is quite, this is quite a high bar, I might add, the most unbelievable statement I have heard from a member of this administration, maybe in my time in the Senate. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Watch the full clip via C-SPAN

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Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: alexanderg@mediaite.com. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing