Wyoming Delegation Welcomes EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to Wyoming Coal Country on March 29

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), announced that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt will visit coal country in Wyoming on March 29. Barrasso, as well as Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), welcomed the news of Pruitt's trip.

"EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is coming to Wyoming to meet the men and women who work to power America," said Barrasso. "His trip will be an excellent opportunity to showcase our world-class coal operations, cutting-edge energy research, and the great work being done by the people of Wyoming. I am thankful to Administrator Pruitt for his leadership and for accepting my invitation to come to Wyoming."

"I am thrilled that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will be visiting Wyoming coal country," Enzi said. "In our community, it doesn't take long to understand how the coal industry is a source of reliable and affordable energy, a provider of high paying jobs and an amazing steward of the land. If a picture is worth a thousand words, being on the ground is worth more than a thousand pictures."

"I'm very pleased that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt will be coming to Wyoming, the number one coal producing state in the country," said Cheney. "Administrator Pruitt has been crucial in fulfilling President Trump's commitment to end the Obama war on coal. During his visit, he will be able to see firsthand what coal country is capable of as we produce one of our national treasures - Powder River Basin coal."

Pruitt's visit will highlight Wyoming's coal-mining operations, as well as the state's commitment to reclamation and environmental stewardship. Wyoming is the nation's leading producer of coal, accounting for about 40 percent of America's total coal production. In 2016, coal production employed 5,682 workers in Wyoming. More than 80 percent of those workers were located in Campbell County.

The Wyoming delegation sent a letter to then President-elect Donald Trump inviting him to visit Wyoming to see its wide range of energy and natural resources.

Press interested in covering the event should contact Mike Danylak with the EPW Committee.

Background Information:

On March 27, 2018, the EPA plans to hold a listening session in Gillette on the proposed repeal of the Obama administration's so-called Clean Power Plan regulation (CPP). On October 10, 2017, the EPA published a draft rule to repeal the CPP.

The EPA has already held listening sessions on the repeal of the CPP in Charleston, W. Va., and San Francisco, Calif.

On March 28, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order promoting energy independence and economic growth that rescinded a number of the Obama administration's climate-related initiatives. It also directed the EPA and the Department of the Interior to review and -- if appropriate -- suspend, revise, or rescind regulations affecting the oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, and electric-generation sectors of our economy. Barrasso attended the signing ceremony for the order.

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