WASHINGTON — A two-year campaign by the Trump administration to roll back environmental regulations to boost oil and gas drilling and other industrial activity is facing the prospect of a drawn-out congressional investigation should the Democrats win a majority in the House of Representatives.

With national polls indicating that outcome, lobbyists in Washington are already gearing up for an oversight process expected to delve into how the administration went about moves such as easing limits on methane emissions and the expansion of lease sales on federal lands.

That would likely include looking not only at officials in the White House, Environmental Protection Agency and departments of Energy and Interior but what role energy companies and their representatives might have played, said Scott Segal, an energy lobbyist at the Washington law firm Bracewell.

“If there’s a lot of back and forth with energy companies, then what ends up happening is House Oversight call the EPA administrator and officials and the people on the other side of those communications,” he said. “The question is, if you create a narrative, will that stay the hand of the administration?”

Democrats are not telegraphing how such an oversight process would play out yet, but they are eagerly campaigning on their disdain for Trump’s environmental policies.

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., who is expected to lead the House Energy and Commerce Committee should Democrats gain a majority, could play a critical role in checking Trump’s environmental action. Pallone said climate change is a critical issue for the party, along with the economy and jobs, and Democrats would focus on “holding the Trump administration accountable for dangerous policies that only make it worse.”

“We also have serious concerns with how Trump’s EPA has consistently sided with the special interests over people’s health and the environment,” he said in a statement. “We will look to restore the environmental protections that have been gutted over the last two years.”

Since coming into office, Trump has taken repeated action to boost U.S. fossil fuel production and move away from the Obama administration’s efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. EPA has repealed the Clean Power Plan, designed to reduce reliance on coal plants, a leading source of the most prevalent greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.

The Interior Department has increasingly allowed oil companies onto federal lands to drill, while simultaneously pulling restrictions on their emissions. And at the Energy Department, led by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, there is an as yet unsuccessful effort to find a way to raise wholesale power rates for coal plants.

Democrats are coming under increasing pressure from environmental activists to take a harder line on climate change, an issue the party has showed mixed enthusiasm for in past elections.

Even in Texas, where climate change remains far from a hot-button issue, Democratic candidate Gina Ortiz Jones has been vocal on the topic as she tries to unseat Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio. In September she tweeted, “Hurd claims to believe in climate change — but he consistently votes to undermine our environment.”

“We are seeing a historic number of candidates running ads on clean energy and climate change and the devastating impacts it’s having, from wildfires in the West to hurricanes that devastated Texas and Florida,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president for government affairs at the League of Conservation Voters. “They know it’s what their voters care about.”

With Republicans expected to retain control of the Senate and President Donald Trump holding veto power in the White House, Democrats would be limited in how much they can do.

Legislation to address climate change, such as through a carbon tax that Exxon Mobil and other large oil companies are supporting, would face staunch Republican opposition and likely even turn away some Democrats.

“We’re always hesitant to vote tax increases, whether you’re a Republican or Democrat. It’s always going to hurt someone,” said Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston.

Even a bipartisan issue such as rebuilding U.S. infrastructure to aid clean energy, through modernizing the power grid or building charging stations for electric vehicles, is expected to be a tough slog in a hyperpartisan political climate, against a backdrop of ballooning budget deficits.

“With a divided government, I don’t see a path forward,” Matt Nugen, director of government relations at the Milwaukee-based power company WEC Energy Group, said at an event hosted by the American Gas Alliance last month. “Not a lot has happened on (Capitol Hill) in the last year, and we expect that to continue.”

The House’s oversight authority presents a clear opportunity to not only try and slow Trump but to score some points with liberals ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

In the meantime, executives at energy companies that have been beneficiaries of Trump’s deregulatory campaign are already preparing themselves for the possibility of being called before Congress to explain their interactions with the administration, according to Segal, the Bracewell lobbyist.

“We have had discussions,” Segal said. “We are already staffing up to assist clients facing this exact scenario.”

james.osborne@chron.com

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