"Official Lies, Misinformation and Bullshit from Congresscorporatist Cynthia Lummis!"

See if you can spot the Lies, Misinformation and all around Bullshit from Wyoming’s corporate-owned Cynthia Marie Lummis, who like Barrasso and Enzi has decided that selling her soul to the Devil has become her Legacy in Congress. She’s a sad excuse for a congressperson, and is the result of 1 of Wyoming’s very few faults, that is the low-information voters who, like lemmings, walk blindly off the cliff, following people who are truly working against their best interest. Shame on them, as they have brought us Liars like: Lummis, Enzi and Barrasso, who just so happens to be the King of Liars in the Senate.

July 27, 2012 William Harasym XXXX Smith St. Apt.ZZZ Anytown, WY 82XXX-XXXX   Dear William: Thank you for contacting me regarding coal mining in Wyoming.   I am a strong, unapologetic supporter of coal mining in Wyoming, and use of coal for affordable electricity. The Powder River Basin (PRB) of Wyoming and Montana is the Saudi Arabia of coal. The total amount of recoverable resources in this tiny area of the country is staggering. In fact, the PRB supplies about 40% of the entire country’s coal supply for electricity generation. Coal production in Wyoming is safe, environmentally sound, and a massive economic driver for our state and country.   Contrary to the claims of some, coal use will not diminish in this country or the world anytime soon. While the Obama Administration is doing everything in its power (and many things outside of its power) to advance its anti-coal agenda, it cannot hide from the verifiable fact of strong demand for coal.  Domestically, coal remains the most abundant, affordable, and reliable source of low cost energy for middle class families and the manufacturing sector of our country. Internationally, coal usage grew by 60% over the last decade, and is expected to continue to grow exponentially in the next decade. While we in America wring our hands over first world problems like what emissions reductions work best, today, nearly 1.3 billion people do not have access to electricity in the world. There is no debate that coal will be the primary source of bringing power to these parts of the world.   Some have called President Obama’s anti-coal agenda a “war on coal.” In my estimation it is a war on affordable electricity. Take for example the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently proposed rules on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. That rule set carbon emissions standards so low that it effectively bans any new coal-fired power plants from being built in the United States ever again. In fact, the emission level is set so unrealistically low that it might even ban natural gas plants at higher elevations. By the stroke of a pen, the EPA has single-handedly taken our most abundant and affordable natural resource off the table. (Climate change and toxic mercury from emissions never crosses Cynthia's simple little mind. She's a shill for dirty energy and doesn't give a hoot if mercury damages your child neurologically, just that her masters tell her what to say because she is owned by them. Pathetic.)   The costs of the carbon emissions regulations alone to the American economy will be staggering. Combine that with the other coal-related proposed or final rules at the EPA and Department of the Interior, and the total cost to the U.S. economy rises to the billions of dollars every year by the EPA’s own estimate. In fact, in response to the EPA’s onslaught of regulations, 59 power plants that produce 25.4 gigawatts of power are slated to close. That’s enough electricity to power 19.1 million homes, and those plants employ 29,000 workers.   Perhaps most troubling is that even if the EPA is successful in shutting down our economy in their zeal to cut emissions, they will have succeeded at nothing. A complete and total end to U.S. carbon emissions would not put a measurable dent in global carbon output. (This is the Big Lie.) I cannot stand by while the EPA single-handedly prevents our economic recovery over an issue they cannot control even if I were to ascribe to them the best possible intentions. I fully intend to continue my battle to halt the Obama Administrations war on affordable electricity, and to support Wyoming’s hard working coal families by any legislative means available.   Thank you again for taking the time to write to me. I value your input. (She doesn't care what I have to say not one iota.) If you haven’t done so already, I would like to encourage you to visit my website at www.lummis.house.gov. There you can sign up to receive my newsletter, and have access to a wealth of other information. I won’t flood your email box, but I will provide you with updates once in a while about activities in Washington that affect our lives in Wyoming. I hope you will sign up so that we can stay in close touch, and I look forward to seeing you in Wyoming.   Sincerely,   Cynthia M. Lummis Member of Congress COMMITTEES Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Subcommittee on the Interior and the Environment Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education E-Mail Via Website http://lummis.house.gov Follow Me on Twitter Like my Facebook Page DC Office Location: 113 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-2311 District Office Locations Cheyenne Casper Rock Springs Sheridan

Official BullShit from Congressman Cynthia Lummis- When I am home in Wyoming, the top concern I hear about is out-of-control federal spending.

Official BullShit from Congressman Cynthia Lummis-

When I am home in Wyoming, the top concern I hear about is out-of-control federal spending.

December 27, 2011 William Harasym 200 Smith Street, Apt. 410 Sheridan, Wyoming 82801-3842 Dear William: Thank you for contacting me regarding the federal budget.  It is good to hear from you. With $15 trillion in national debt hanging over the future of our children and grandchildren, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have failed to take meaningful action to control government spending.  Past Republican Congresses and Administrations did their fair share of overspending.  But this does not excuse Democrat leaders for making a bad fiscal situation demonstrably worse.  Since President Obama took office, he and the Democrats in the House and Senate have presided over a failed $1.1 trillion economic stimulus bill, the release of $350 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds, and annual trillion dollar deficits. I really am an idiot and have no clue about economics, but just parrot what my masters tell me to say, even if it's false---just sayin'!  My Republican colleagues in the new Republican Majority in the House have selected me to serve on the House Appropriations Committee, which sets specific federal expenditures for government agencies and departments. Specific expenditures of our government must stay within the confines of allocations set by the budget resolution. This is a blueprint of government spending for the current year, as well as a projection for the decades to come. The President's budget proposal submitted to Congress in February would spend $3.8 trillion this year, the highest percentage of Gross Domestic Product since World War II. Over ten years it includes $8.7 trillion in new spending; nearly doubling the size of government since the day he took office. It would also collect $1.6 trillion in new taxes and add $13 trillion to the nation's debt over 10 years. This propels our country on a path to bankruptcy and I plan to stand with my Republican colleagues in demanding spending reductions or other budgetary concessions whenever possible. Raising the debt ceiling before August 2nd provided the Republicans with the leverage to demand immediate cuts instead of handing over a blank check. The Budget Control Act ensures Congress cuts government spending more than any increases in the debt limit. The first $900 billion increase in the debt limit was accompanied by $917 billion in cuts over 10 years. The Budget Control Act also set up a Joint Committee of Members of Congress to recommend at least $1.2 trillion in spending cuts before any additional increases to the debt limit. Since this Committee was ultimately not successful, we now face an automatic sequestration process which will enforce across-the-board cuts to lower our government's spending. Overall, the Congressional Budget Office projects the measure to save $2.117 trillion over 10 years, which puts us on a path to reversing the current spending trajectory and making progress towards greater fiscal responsibility. House passage of the Fiscal Year 2012 Republican budget, "The Path to Prosperity," is a good framework for the fiscal path I will insist on moving forward. This blueprint preserves and strengthens health and retirement programs. It streamlines the tax code, halts Washington's sprawl in favor of a smaller, leaner federal government, and it empowers America's job creators to start hiring and to grow the economy. Additionally, 'The Path to Prosperity' cuts $6.2 trillion in government spending over the next decade alone. This historic proposal is a clean cut from the reckless budget policies of the past. When I am home in Wyoming, the top concern I hear about is out-of-control federal spending.  I will use my seat on the Appropriations Committee to ensure the people of Wyoming's concerns will be expressed loud and clear.  I have not requested a single earmark since taking office and I am happy to say that my Republican colleagues in the House have decided to follow suit by banning earmarks in the next budget cycle.  I support legislation putting an end to the automatic pay raises given to Members of Congress every year.  These are all important steps towards changing the culture of spending in Washington, but tinkering around the edges of our spending addiction will not solve the problem. Achieving lasting budget balance will not be possible unless Congress is forced to make tough decisions, including reform of our unsustainable entitlement programs.  Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid are plagued with trillions in unfunded liabilities and will eventually collapse under their own weight if they are left unchanged.  Action must be taken sooner rather than later if we are to preserve these programs for future generations and avoid impacting current retirees that have planned their retirement around a promise of government benefits. Under the new Republican Majority, I am committed to advancing budget alternatives that put faith in individuals, small businesses and private sector investment to get us out of the recession, not big government spending.  I will continue working to restore fiscal sanity to a federal budget that, if set on the trajectory proposed by President Obama, will bankrupt the Treasury for our children and grandchildren.  Thank you again for taking the time to write to me.  I value your input.  If you haven't done so already, I would like to encourage you to visit my website at www.lummis.house.gov.  There you can sign up to receive my newsletter, and have access to a wealth of other information.  I won't flood your email box, but I will provide you with updates once in a while about activities in Washington that affect our lives in Wyoming.  I hope you will sign up so that we can stay in close touch, and I look forward to seeing you in Wyoming. Sincerely, Lady- Z Cynthia M. Lummis Member of Congress

Why the Hell is Wyoming Coal going to China? So much for energy Independence!

We are at a Moral Crossroads with Coal Exports!

 

Posted: 14 Aug 2011 06:03 AM PDT

 
by Tom Kenworthy and Kate Gordon

In late March, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar traveled to Cheyenne, Wyo., to announce that his department would soon sell leases to 752 million tons of coal from public holdings in the Powder River Basin, and was proceeding on future sales of an additional 1.6 billion tons.

Salazar called coal “a critical component of America’s comprehensive energy portfolio, as well as Wyoming’s economy” and said “it’s important that we continue to encourage safe production of this important resource.” Salazar made no mention of the potential for some of that coal being sold and shipped to Asia. He may have been the only person in Wyoming that day with an interest in energy who wasn’t thinking about coal exports.

Just before Salazar’s visit to Wyoming, the two giant companies that mine about half of the state’s annual coal production, Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, announced deals that could lead to a big jump in the now relatively small business of sending Western U.S. coal to hungry markets in China, Japan, India and other Asian nations. In mid-June, newspapers in the Pacific Northwest reported that two Oregon ports on the Columbia River are also being considered as sites for exporting coal to Asia.

All of that has prompted an escalating battle in the Pacific Northwest over what could be the first U.S. coal export terminals on the West Coast. And, combined with Salazar’s boosterism, it has raised questions about whether the United States is backsliding on the fight against global climate change.

China may be a world leader in developing clean, renewable energy, but it still has a huge appetite for coal and is expected to build 773,000 megawatts of coal-fired electricity between 2007 and 2030. Even with the third largest coal reserves in the world, China is stepping up imports.

That rising demand is whetting the appetite of Wyoming producers. “We’re opening the door to a new era of U.S. exports from the nation’s largest and most productive coal region to the world’s best market for coal,” Peabody Energy Chairman Gregory Boyce said in a statement as his company announced a deal to ship up to 24 million tons of Powder River Basin coal through a proposed terminal near Bellingham, Wash.

Six weeks earlier, Arch Coal bought a 38 percent share of a company that has plans to build a second coal export facility in Longview, Wash.

Environmental and landowner groups from Puget Sound to the plains of eastern Montana are mobilizing to fight the terminals. They cite a menu of potential ill effects: small-town disruptions from the jump in rail traffic involving coal trains more than a mile long moving from Wyoming and Montana to the west coast; health impacts from fugitive coal dust blowing from open rail cars (up to 3 percent of the loads, according to BNSF), threats of coal train spills into the Columbia River.

Then there is the question of enabling China and other Asian nations to pump more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. That, says KC Golden, policy director of the Seattle nonprofit Climate Solutions, is the “moral crossroads” faced by local and state officials in Washington State.

It’s also the moral crossroads that ought to be engaging officials in the other Washington.

– Tom Kenworthy is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Kate Gordon is the center’s vice president for energy policy. This piece was first published in the Denver Post.