"Rep. Katie Porter spent the last two years drawing out some of the most revealing, and damning, admissions from executives of major banks and pharmaceutical companies. She could now be poised to do the same with leaders of the oil and gas industry.

The second-term California Democrat is the new chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and she is pledging to use her platform to take on the "polluters" of public lands and expose their abuse of taxpayer dollars.

Porter also has no plans to shy away from revisiting, perhaps even relitigating, the past actions of the Trump-era Interior Department, which was run by officials with major oil and gas ties, if it could help inform the public's understanding of the scope of the industry's influence."

Emma Dumain reports for E&E News March 10, 2021. [2]