Press Releases

Today Western Caucus Chairman Cynthia Lummis (WY-At large), along with other caucus members, joined a letter led by Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-09) sent to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (KY-05) and Ranking Member Nita Lowey (NY-17) to oppose fulfilling President Obama’s funding request for the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (November 6, 2015) – Today President Obama has rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline. Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Cynthia Lummis (WY-At Large) released the following statement in response: Read more »

Washington, D.C. (November 6, 2015) – Yesterday, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01) released a discussion draft of legislation to reauthorize and reform the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The draft bill, titled Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation (PARC) Act, would make the LWCF work more effectively for public lands, states, and communities. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (October 22, 2015) – Today the U.S. House passed, with a bipartisan vote, H.R. 1937: the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2015. This legislation addresses delays in the permitting of American mining projects, which can currently take seven to ten years or longer. This bill requires the lead permitting agency to identify a project lead to coordinate with all involved, set and adhere to deadlines, establish clear goals, and track progress. It also allows state reviews to count towards federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, and streamlines judicial review and litigation. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (October 9th, 2015) – Today the U.S. House voted 261-159 to increase American energy production and spur economic growth by passing bipartisan legislation to lift the 40 year old ban on crude oil exports. The export ban was put in place in 1975 in response to the Arab oil embargo. Since then the U.S. has become a leading producer of oil in the world, but the policy has not changed, jeopardizing the ability of American production to stay globally competitive. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (October 8th, 2015) – Today the U.S. House passed with a bipartisan vote H.R.538: the Native American Energy Act. This legislation empowers tribes to develop more of their natural resources and loosens federal bureaucratic restrictions which are often duplicative and can add years of delay. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (October 8th, 2015) – Reports are in that yesterday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency caused a spill of 2,000 gallons while working on a cleanup site at the Standard Mine in central western Colorado. The EPA failed to notify federal officials including Rep. Scott Tipton (CO-03) and has yet to comment on the spill. Information from local officials indicates that roughly 2,000 gallons of gray wastewater was released from the site. Work had recently resumed from a temporary halt after the August 5 blowout at Gold King Mine. Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final rule for surface-level ozone. Senate Western Caucus Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) released the following statements: Read more »

Washington, D.C. (September 30, 2015) – Today a U.S. District Judge in the District Court of Wyoming upheld a preliminary injunction against the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) rule governing hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands, finalized in March of this year. The judge found that the rule exceeded the BLM’s statutory authority. Read more »

Denver, CO (September 22, 2015) – Today Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that an Endangered Species Act listing of the greater sage grouse is not warranted at this time. Also this week, the Department of the Interior finalized nearly a hundred land use plans imposing sage grouse-based restrictions across the sage grouse’s 11 state range. Read more »