Lummis Blasts the Obama Administration's Latest Attacks on American Energy

Press Release

The Obama Administration announced two more attacks on western jobs through two different agencies. On June 16, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed deal with extreme environmentalists to force coal-power plants to install costly pollution-control equipment, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today an extended ban on uranium mining in western states.

Vice-Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) released the following statement in response to the two announcements:

"The Obama war on western jobs continues. With its vast natural resources, the western United States could be a driver for economic recovery if only the Obama Administration would lay down its arms.

"Westerners have come to realize that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's famous "boot on the neck' was simply a metaphor that represents the EPA, the Department of Interior, and the whole of the Obama Administration. It's a boot that is choking the life out of any economic recovery or job creation in the west. Saddling Americans with 20 more years of inactivity, slow-walking development of domestic uranium, oil, natural gas and clean coal, and making backroom deals with litigation-happy environmentalists is the legacy of Secretary Salazar, Lisa Jackson, and President Obama.

"It's a legacy of unemployment and high energy costs. We will not move this country forward until the war on western jobs comes to an end."

The proposed EPA deal will cost coal-power plants billions of dollars to install new equipment and will drive utility rates up significantly. The announcement by Salazar could prevent uranium mining activity which has the potential to produce over 350 million pounds of high grade uranium deposits and produce thousands of jobs in the west. Domestic utilities currently import 90% of the uranium used to operate the country's 104 nuclear reactors.

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