House Democrats’ new leader on a Natural Resources subcommittee is vowing to use her perch to fact-check Republican messaging on fossil fuels and renewable energy.
Dismayed by the Trump administration’s recent moves to hamper wind and solar projects despite preaching an “all-of-the-above” energy philosophy, Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari says she sees her new ranking member position on the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources as an opportunity to “really call out the hypocrisy of the Republicans.”
The 32-year-old Phoenix native, new to Congress this year, said in an interview that she wants to “demonstrate to the American people that the influence of Big Oil is hurting them, hurting all of us.”
Ansari is poised to lead Democrats’ opposition on one of the most influential and yet polarized energy-focused panels in Congress. Republicans are preparing an aggressive push to roll back climate protections and ease restrictions on mining and fossil fuel production.
