Lummis Works for Wyoming Jobs, American Energy Security

Press Release

Today, the U.S. House passed H.R. 4899: the Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act, legislation cosponsored by U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis. H.R. 4899 includes a package of bills to expand both onshore and offshore energy production by streamlining oil and gas leasing and permitting. To increase development on federal lands onshore in states like Wyoming, the bill streamlines the federal land oil and gas leasing and permitting processes that have lagged under the Obama Administration to the detriment of local jobs and revenue for the federal, state, and local governments. For Fiscal Year 2013, the U.S Energy Information Administration reported a 9% drop in natural gas production on federal lands and estimates that total sales of fossil fuels from production on federal and Indian lands decreased by 7%. The bill also allows local Bureau of Land Management offices to keep a portion of the permitting fees they collect so they can retain the personnel they need to process permits and leases for all types of energy in a timely manner.

"Even as President Obama tries to take credit for the energy boom on private lands, his policies are stifling energy production on federal lands in Wyoming and the west," said Rep. Lummis. "The American energy boom has come in spite of the President's policies, not because of them, a trend this legislation will reverse in order to get our public lands back to work for Wyoming and the American people. We are sitting on abundant, untapped energy reserves with the know-how to responsibly develop them consistent with our multiple-use tradition. The bill's expansion of the pilot program to keep permit fees in local BLM offices is crucial for Wyoming, where energy production finances the lion share of the BLM budget and could finance even more if we can help local offices obtain the right staffing and expertise. The result is growth in local jobs, economy, revenue for all levels of government, and relief for low- and middle-income Americans at the gas pump and when they flip on the light switch."

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