Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (June 25, 2013) – Today, President Obama and his top climate change advisors released their latest proposals to circumvent Congress and play politics with the price of electricity. Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairman Steve Pearce and Cynthia Lummis issued the following statements: Read more »

Washington, D.C. (June 21, 2013) – The State of Wyoming announced today that the EPA would set aside its report on hydraulic fracturing and water contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming. The report, released to the public without peer review on December 8, 2011, was the first time the EPA had implied contaminated water was the result of hydraulic fracturing. The EPA’s decision to pull its report comes after State experts, other federal agencies, and industry had criticized the EPA’s drilling plan and testing procedures. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (June 7, 2013) – Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced their proposal to remove the gray wolf from the list of threatened and endangered species. This proposal would leave future management and conservation efforts to states for all gray wolf populations in the lower 48 states with the exception of the southwestern Mexican gray wolf. This announcement comes after the delisting of wolves in the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain States earlier this year. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (May 23, 2013) – Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act. The legislation approves the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL Pipeline, providing lower gas prices, reduced reliance on Middle-Eastern oil, valuable energy jobs, and investment in the U.S. Economy. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2013) – Western Caucus Co-Chairs Steve Pearce and Cynthia Lummis released the following statements in response to the new proposed regulations of hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands announced yesterday by the Department of the Interior: Read more »

Washington, D.C. (May 15, 2013) – Yesterday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) announced that it had obtained information that the IRS isn’t the only government agency targeting conservative groups- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing it too. It took a lawsuit filed by CEI under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get to the bottom of it, but the findings were shocking. There was a clear pattern of EPA making it more difficult for limited-government groups to access public records, while fees were waived and doors were opened without fuss for liberal-leaning groups. Public interest groups were the intended beneficiaries of the FOIA’s provision for waiving fees. But it turns out that fee waivers are quite common for some groups, and yet scarce for others. Overall, green groups, like Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and EarthJustice, were granted 92% of their waiver requests. Unfortunately, the same courtesy was not extended to groups who’s beliefs don’t line up with those of the Administration- their requests were denied 93% of the time. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (May 15, 2013) – Yesterday, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with Chairman Steve Pearce (R-NM), Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Congressman Chris Stewart (R-UT), Congressman Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO), and Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), introduced the State Mineral Revenue Protection Act, a bill that streamlines how mineral royalty payments are distributed to the state and federal government. Read more »

Denver, CO (May 2, 2013) – Earlier today, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairmen Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with Members of Congressional Western Caucus from Colorado held a hearing entitled “Seeking State Solutions: Forest Health, Wildfires, and Habitat Protection” at the Colorado State Capitol. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (May 1, 2013) – Thursday, May 2, 2013, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairmen Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with the Colorado Members of the Congressional Western Caucus will hold a hearing entitled “Seeking State Solutions: Forest Health, Wildfires, and Habitat Protection” in Denver, CO. Read more »

Washington, D.C. (April 24, 2013) – Thursday, May 2, 2013, Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairmen Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), along with the Colorado Members of the Congressional Western Caucus will hold a hearing entitled “Seeking State Solutions: Forest Health, Wildfires, and Habitat Protection” in Denver, CO. Read more »