Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment No. 44 to H.R. 8998, which would block the Bureau of Land Management's proposed Resource Management Plans in the Buffalo, Wyoming, planning area and the Miles City, Montana, planning area. I am grateful for the support of Congressman Rosendale as these RMPs impact his district as much as they impact mine. The Buffalo field office is located in the Powder River Basin, which is the largest coal-producing region in the United States of America. More than 40 percent of the Nation's coal is produced in Wyoming in the Powder River Basin. Without our coal, we can't power this country. Yet, the BLM has chosen to pursue the no-new-coal leasing alternative, seeking to end coal mining in the region by 2041. The State relies on the basin for revenues used for things like local education, but as importantly, the Nation relies on the basin for power. While seemingly a local decision only affecting a local area, its going into effect would mean disaster for Wyoming and lights out for America. Wyoming coal producers produced 244.3 million tons of coal in 2022, the vast majority from federally owned Powder River Basin coal. Even with this high volume of production, it wasn't enough to meet contracted demand, as producers lost an estimated 60 million tons of production because of the inability to move coal to customers due to poor rail service. This demonstrates the high demand for Wyoming coal.…”