This week, Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) were named to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee. They replace Senators Luther Strange (R-Ala.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.), who both departed the Senate earlier this year.
Sen. Capito, a first-term Republican, also serves on the Appropriations, Environment and Public Works (EPW), Commerce, and Rules Committees. Capito has been a proponent of the gas industry, supporting the permitting reform and increased access to development of resources in her tenure on EPW. APGA anticipates Sen. Capito to continue to be a voice for natural gas on the ENR Committee.
Sen. Smith is a freshman Senator, appointed by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton after the retirement of Sen. Franken. Sen. Smith, a Democrat, formerly served as Lieutenant Governor for Minnesota. In her term, Smith supported natural gas as a clean, reliable source of energy. APGA looks forward to working with Sen. Smith to promote natural gas development.
For questions on this article, please contact Doug MacGillivray of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at
dmacgillivray@apga.org.