WASHINGTON ? Two Colorado members of Congress expressed sharply divided views over oil and gas drilling on public lands during a U.S. House hearing Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, Democrat of Denver, criticized the Trump administration for allowing more oil and gas drilling on federal acreage, while U.S Rep. Doug Lamborn, Republican of Colorado Springs, touted the benefits to the economy.

Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican, also questioned whether oil and gas drilling significantly contributes to global warming.

At the hearing, he asked an economist who studies environmental regulation what would happen if environmentally-friendly political candidates win the next election and imposed tough restrictions on oil and gas drilling on public lands.

“That’s simply going to drive up prices,” said the economist, Nicolas Loris, a policy analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation.

The House Natural Resources subcommittee on energy and mineral resources held the hearing to determine whether current policies on oil and gas drilling should be revised to avoid greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

The drilling produces large amounts of methane, which some climatologists say is the most potent and dangerous greenhouse gas.

Loris said negative consequences from tighter restrictions could have “adverse effects throughout the economy.”

“Would it do much for the environment?” Lamborn asked.

Loris answered, “It would not make any meaningful impact on climate change.”

He said estimates on how oil and gas drilling on public lands might add to global warming are unreliable and “really all over the map.”

Some Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee cautioned that limiting U.S. oil and gas drilling would make the United States more dependent on foreign energy sources.

They also said it would not benefit the climate because oil and gas drilling in foreign countries typically lacks the strict environmental controls found in the United States.

However, DeGette accused the Trump administration of largely ignoring harmful effects of its environmental policies.

“Would you say the Trump administration is working to expand the extraction of oil and gas from public lands and offshore?” DeGette asked an environmental advocacy group official.

“Yes,” said David Hayes, director of the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center.

“What do you think the Department of the Interior should do in the meantime to address climate change before we do some kind of legislation?” DeGette asked Hayes, who also was a deputy secretary of the Interior Department in the Obama administration.

He recommended more policies to reach “net zero” emissions, meaning greenhouses gases would be limited to the degree that they no longer contribute to climate change. One of his suggestions was halting oil and gas drilling in environmentally sensitive areas.

DeGette discussed a bill she introduced this year that would set aside an additional 744,000 acres of public lands in central and western Colorado as protected wilderness. They would not be eligible for commercial development.

Wilderness land, particularly planting of trees, was discussed during the hearing as a natural solution to greenhouse gas emissions. The photosynthesis performed by tree leaves removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and replaces it with clean air.

“Could we get to the goals we need to solely by the natural solutions?” DeGette asked.

Jamie Williams, president of the environmental group the Wilderness Society, said natural solutions alone were inadequate to eliminate climate change.