WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, wrote an op-ed for The Washington Times underscoring natural gas's role in lowering carbon emissions. "Coal, natural gas, oil, solar, wind, nuclear, biomass: our country has been incredibly blessed with a variety of energy resources, and using all of them keeps America safe and running," Ranking Member Capito wrote. "Natural gas, in particular, burns cleaner, moves safely and efficiently in our world-class national pipeline network, and is an essential feedstock for several domestic supply chains like medical supplies, which are critical now more than ever during this pandemic. Environmentalists fighting against natural gas can't see the forest for the trees. Eliminating natural gas from our energy mix will lead to higher utility costs and less reliability -- just ask California." The full op-ed can be read here and below: Natural Gas is Critical to Our Cleaner Energy Future By Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) The Washington Times Word Count: 595 According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if the Appalachian region were an independent country, it would be the third-largest natural gas producer in the world. Job creation and economic growth through the natural gas industry cannot be overstated. It's why I've pushed so hard to create a natural gas storage hub in West Virginia. Sadly, natural gas growth faces tremendous headwinds over the next four years. Despite calls for "unity," in some of his first actions President Biden managed to kill thousands of jobs and paralyze America's energy industry with executive orders. The Biden moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands is an economic, energy, and national security disaster rolled into one. This order moves America from energy independence back to relying on foreign adversaries for energy--countries that have much laxer environmental standards. This action is indicative of the incoming climate agenda that will have drastic impacts on our nation's energy sector. The forces against natural gas are growing. And they're against natural gas, nuclear, or any other energy source that's not blessed by the Green New Deal. Ironically, Democrats are targeting natural gas production and use it as a primary target for additional legislation and regulation though increased natural gas production actually helped lead to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. oil and gas industry reduced emissions by nearly 2 percent between 1990 and 2018. A 24 percent reduction in methane emissions is impressive, but what is more remarkable is that these reductions took place during a time when production increased by more than 70 percent. By the way, a huge part of reducing those emissions was through the development of natural gas pipelines, which most environmentalists don't even want built! On top of this, President Biden installed Gina McCarthy and John Kerry as his climate czars. Both are unaccountable to Congress and have made clear they're the ones in charge of the administration's ambitious climate agenda. By claiming every policy issue touches climate, McCarthy and Kerry have broad jurisdiction do their bidding. They've made no secret of their ultimate goal: banning fossil fuels. In fact, Kerry suggested folks should "Go work on solar panels." I have great skepticism when I hear this administration talk about giving industry time to transition and giving workers clean energy jobs. Tell that to the Keystone XL pipeline workers. Where are their clean energy jobs? Do they get a new clean energy job tomorrow? Next month? Next year? Coal, natural gas, oil, solar, wind, nuclear, biomass: our country has been incredibly blessed with a variety of energy resources, and using all of them keeps America safe and running. Natural gas, in particular, burns cleaner, moves safely and efficiently in our world-class national pipeline network, and is an essential feedstock for several domestic supply chains like medical supplies, which are critical now more than ever during this pandemic. Environmentalists fighting against natural gas can't see the forest for the trees. Eliminating natural gas from our energy mix will lead to higher utility costs and less reliability -- just ask California. Renewables can't power our country at 100 percent of the time, and battery technology can't fill the gaps. But, we can address climate change together though innovation and technology. Sadly, President Biden's climate executive orders really alienated key players in the solution. That's not a way to build unity. That's picking winners and losers. That's pitting American jobs against each other. That's creating resentment. This country has always risen to every challenge we've faced. This climate challenge is no different. Through American ingenuity, we will find solutions.

By U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito President Joe Biden has nominated an individual who has advocated and advanced views to the left of most of the country to be the third most senior person at the U.S. Department of Justice. Whether it's decriminalizing drugs, eliminating qualified immunity, rolling back the Second Amendment, or defunding the police, Vanita Gupta has a long track record of promoting radical policies that do not align with West Virginia values. I have serious policy disagreements with her, and I believe that most West Virginians would as well. Her policies give me great pause. For starters, in a 2012 op-ed, Vanita Gupta wrote that states should decriminalize "all drugs." That means decriminalizing potentially fatal drugs like fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and more. Not only was this concerning to learn, but when Ms. Gupta was confronted with her 2012 op-ed where she stated this, she denied it. If a federal prosecutor who is also nominated to serve as the number three in charge at the Department of Justice can't accept her mistakes from the past, how can she be trusted? In West Virginia, we unfortunately know all too well the devastations caused by these illegal drugs that Ms. Gupta would like to legalize. It's hard to imagine the level of devastation we would see if all of these drugs actually were legalized. And, it's even harder to imagine that a nominee for a critical law enforcement position would hold this view. It's important that our Justice Department operate free from bias. In order to do that, the individuals leading the department must separate their personal views and beliefs from their job. Ms. Gupta does neither. Based on Ms. Gupta's track record of radical policy beliefs and inconsistencies with owning up to them, I am not confident she would separate her views as a private citizen from those as the Associate Attorney General. Additionally, it's clear she does not have the temperament the job requires after she launched personal attacks on my fellow colleagues and sitting federal judges. Not only did Ms. Gupta oppose President Trump's nominations to the Supreme Court, but she also called the process a "sham," "shameful," "illegitimate," and, when asked about expanding the Supreme Court she said, "Nothing is off the table." While these are actions and opinions that she has taken over time, it is a recent exchange at a committee that gives me even greater pause. In response to a question my colleague Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked her about whether she believed all Americans were racist, Ms. Gupta replied, "I think we all have implicit bias and racial bias, yes, I do." Justice is supposed to be blind, but when an individual who is nominated to a position of significance with the Department of Justice has such a skewed view of her fellow citizens, I cannot feel she would operate in fairness to all. For these reasons, I oppose Vanita Gupta's nomination and hope my colleagues will do the same.

Hundreds of children in overcrowded spaces. Looks of exasperation on the faces of those working on the ground. A porous border susceptible to trafficking of all kinds. These were some of the sights I witnessed during my recent trip to El Paso, Texas, to see the border crisis firsthand with a bipartisan group of senators, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. By now, I'm sure you've seen the alarming numbers. Temporary housing facilities are averaging close to 300% and 400% capacity, with one even at 1,556% capacity. The average time in custody for unaccompanied children has risen to 136 hours, nearly double the legal amount. And the Department of Homeland Security projects that we are on pace for more illegal border crossings than we've have had in the past 20 years. But still, our nation's southwest border in Texas is a long way from our state. So why should West Virginians care? The most immediate reason is the condition of children, some as young as 5 or 6 years old, whom cartels are taking to the border knowing the Biden administration's relaxed policies give them a good chance to make it into the United States. It was heartbreaking to see these children used as pawns, forced to travel dangerous journeys, now staying in overcrowded facilities where coronavirus cases continue to flare up. But, just like Texas or Arizona, we also must view West Virginia as a border state, as this crisis continues to fuel our nation's drug epidemic. Before the coronavirus pandemic, our state and nation made real improvements on the addiction front. For the first time in 29 years, drug overdose deaths decreased nationwide in 2018. We made progress because of the work we did on all fronts in this fight, such as expanding treatment and recovery programs, increasing interdiction efforts through the mail and at our ports, and enhancing technology at our points of entry along our southern border. It's exactly why we cannot take our eyes off the ball when it comes to stopping the flow of these poisons that pour into our country, make their way across state lines and devastate communities throughout West Virginia. During our trip to the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told us that, at this particular point of entry in the El Paso sector, fentanyl seizures were up 648% so far this fiscal year. According to CBP, agents and officers have seized more than 4,900 pounds of fentanyl during the first five months of fiscal 2021, already surpassing the total for all of fiscal 2020. And the weight of the amount of drugs seized on the southern border has almost doubled between January and February alone. And this is just what the men and women working at border checkpoints are catching. The true flow of these deadly drugs is harder to quantify, except unfortunately, in drug overdoses and fatalities. We aren't the only ones who understand that the current humanitarian crisis is fueling America's addiction crisis. Drug traffickers know it, too. As hundreds of border patrol agents are pulled off their regular line duty and forced to deal with the surge of migrants being processed and cared for, drug traffickers have a green light to send methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl into our country with ease. It only takes a speck of fentanyl about the size of a small salt packet to kill someone, and it only takes one time experimenting with meth or heroin to begin the slippery slope into addiction and, eventually, destruction. These are the drugs that are killing our brothers and sisters, our daughters and sons, our friends and neighbors. What I saw at our southwest border was devastating and heart-wrenching, but also preventable. The situation requires not only stronger messaging from the Biden administration, but urgent action, a return to policies that deter mass illegal immigration, and a recommitment to securing our nation's border. I urge them to act now, or the long-term effects of the border crisis will surely be felt by Americans -- and West Virginians -- for years to come.