WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman, all R-Wyo., blasted the Bureau of Land Management’s final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) and proposed amendment to its Buffalo Field Office land use plan.
In the plan, the BLM bans future coal leasing in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. This impacts 12 of Wyoming’s active coal mines and will put 48 billion short-tons of BLM-administered federal coal off limits for mining.
“President Biden continues to wage war on Wyoming’s coal communities and families,” said Senator Barrasso. “This short-sighted plan will kill future coal leases in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin – the most energy-rich area in the country. This will kill jobs and could cost Wyoming hundreds of millions of dollars used to pay for public schools, roads, and other essential services in our communities. Cutting off access to our strongest resources surrenders America’s greatest economic advantages – to continue producing affordable, abundant, and reliable American energy.”
“I am horrified to see the Biden administration’s latest assault on our nation’s domestic energy production,” said Senator Lummis. “Wyoming has been targeted left and right by rule after rule handed down by this administration as it works to cater to the extremists within the Democratic Party. The Cowboy State produces some of the cleanest and best coal in the world. This RMP will push our country to rely on foreign adversaries for energy needs at a time when our grid is pushed to the brim and Wyoming coal is needed now more than ever to power our nation and the world. I will work with my colleagues every step of the way to prevent this RMP from going into effect.”
“Joe Biden’s war on the West continues, this time by enacting an RMP that will destroy the Wyoming coal industry,” said Representative Hageman. “This decision to eviscerate Wyoming’s coal production will impact every American’s access to affordable and reliable energy, and only benefits the despots and dictators that this administration now relies on to meet our energy needs, while further weakening our economy and national security. At the same time, it will result in the need to increase coal production in countries with poor environmental and labor standards, thereby causing even more world-wide pollution – the total opposite of what this failed administration claims to be trying to accomplish. The Biden Administration’s war on affordable and reliable energy won’t end until we end his presidency.”
