00:00Mr. Chairman. Senator James. Chairman Lee, thank you. Congratulations the nominees for
00:07considering these important roles. I also want to invite each of you to come
00:11visit Montana and the rest of the world's coming to see us. You might as
00:15well join the rest of the world and enjoy the great outdoors we have there
00:18in our great state. Mr. Erdos, in 2020 you were reported out of this committee
00:23unanimously and similarly confirmed by the Senate by voice vote and it's our
00:29aspiration goal we can do it again this time around. Unfortunately under the
00:35Biden administration the Office of Surface Mining refused to grant permits for
00:40three Montana coal mines. Thankfully the Trump administration has reversed course
00:46and has now approved the Bull Mountains mine permit and the Spring Creek mine
00:51permit and we expect to have a permit for the Rosebud coal mine very soon. Further
00:56on the 4th of July, President Trump signed the one big beautiful bill into law that
01:03specifically authorized coal mining at the Bull Mountains mine. I want to thank the
01:08chairman of the committee for fighting for that important outcome and win in
01:11that piece of legislation. This was a big win for a lot of hard-working folks in
01:16Montana and for these rural Montana communities that don't have the
01:20elaborate lifestyle you see on the show Yellowstone. More of Montana is struggling
01:25day in and day out to pay the bills every month. Mr. Erdos, when confirmed will you
01:30prioritize reviewing and completing mining permits and implementing the new coal
01:36provisions signed into law in the big beautiful bill? Yes certainly Senator and
01:42thank you for the question. You and I actually talked about some of those
01:45permits a few years ago and obviously OSM and BLM have got those through the
01:51system relative to NEPA reviews and finalized those so that's that's great.
01:54Certainly yes I think the provisions in the in the big beautiful bill there there
01:59are some in there the leasing parts not OSM that's BLM so we don't lease coal but
02:03BLM does but as far as the other provisions royalties that's a big deal twelve and a
02:08half to seven percent so you have a co-operator out there it looks at 20
02:11million tons of coal and at twelve and a half percent the numbers don't work so
02:15but he looked at it seven percent the numbers do work so you mine that 20
02:19million tons of coal at seven percent you have those revenues coming back into
02:22the country so at twelve and a half you get zero revenue and at seven
02:26percent whatever that number is you have coming into the country so I'm
02:29excited about that I think it'll actually incentivize the industry to mine
02:33more coal and more revenue for the country. Right well you there's a revenue
02:36piece so important today we need more baseload power we need more energy I
02:39mean this is the this is really an existential threat to the future in terms
02:43of our competitiveness and so forth as we think about where we're headed here in
02:46the next several years. By the way, Montana recently passed House Bill 587 to
02:53update our mine reclamation laws. It's my understanding the Office of Surface
02:58Mining now needs to approve those updates and that mines in Montana need that
03:02approval immediately. Will you ensure these approvals aren't held up by
03:06bureaucracy and are issued without delay? Absolutely yes. I spoke to this earlier
03:12in regard to program amendments. It's an issue I understand it's an issue in OSM
03:15we'll work on that right away and make sure that those move through the system as
03:18they should so thank you. Short answer is yes. Appreciate that. Mr. Eisner as Assistant
03:23Secretary for International Affairs your role be to advocate U.S. energy dominance
03:27around the globe. We have a very important mine in Montana called the Stillwater Mine.
03:32It's the one of the only primary producers of platinum and palladium in the
03:38United States. In fact it is the only just on a very short list of a few around the
03:42world that do such. We've already lost hundreds of jobs because of Russian
03:47dumping. We must reverse this course. Mr. Eisner when confirmed will you advocate
03:52for the Stillwater Mines and their employees. Some 700 employees were were laid off
03:58recently and work with your colleagues throughout the administration to take
04:02action against unfair Russian trade practices. Thank you for that question
04:09Senator Daines. I feel that that one of my primary responsibilities as the Assistant
04:18Secretary for International Affairs will be to advocate for American energy and
04:24American critical minerals both in bilateral as well as multilateral
04:30organizations and I don't know the specifics about Stillwater or what the what the
04:37what the the the priorities of of the of the Department Secretary Wright are at this
04:47point but but I will I will always defend both America's and advocate for America and
04:54product and I will always advocate against unfair trade practices should they
05:00exist with with the Russians or with anyone else. Mr. Eisner thank you. One
05:03final follow-up question then I'm out of time. I want to bring up the month this
05:07is getting the weeds here in Montana so this probably one could take notes on a
05:10follow-up but it's the Montana Alberta tie line. It's a vital interconnector that
05:16allows for energy exports into the Canadian marketplace. Unfortunately Alberta has
05:23levied a number of rules and regulations that discriminate against Montana
05:28electricity producers and ultimately undermines the stability of our grid. As
05:33you know managing a grid it's very very dynamic and very important you have
05:37maximum flexibility and this is a problem. When confirmed would you commit to
05:42working with the relevant agency partners to ensure that our Montana energy
05:48producers operate on a level playing field in the Canadian markets? Senator as as you
05:56know a centerpiece of the president's economic agenda is the creation of a level
06:02playing field for for US exports around the world and so I have I have no doubt that a that is
06:10that a situations as you have described would not be something that that I would
06:16be eager to to take a look at very early on in my tenure tenure should I be
06:23should I be confirmed by the Senate. Mr. Eisner thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Comments