Southwest Montana News

Congressman Matt Rosendale (MT-02), Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Senator Steve Daines, and Congressman Ryan Zinke have expressed their discontent following the Biden administration's release of a new Resource Management Plan Amendment. This amendment prohibits future coal leases in eastern Montana through 2038.

"America lost more energy independence today due to a stroke of a pen by the Biden administration," said Rep. Rosendale. "This decision whose sole intent is to appease climate extremists is an insult to the men, women, and children of Montana who depend on coal to power their homes, keep food on their table, and maintain our Montana way of life. BLM either does not understand or does not care that their unreliable green new deal energy sources are not feasible in places like Montana and pose real threats to our economy and national security."

Gov. Gianforte added his perspective: "Every action taken by the Biden administration is driving up the cost of affordable energy and threatening the reliability of our electrical grid. Affordable power generated by coal keeps the lights on in Montana and fuels manufacturing across the country and world. Today’s announcement is nothing more than a gift to China and our adversaries and a slap in face to hardworking Montanans. Instead of prioritizing the ideological agenda of the far left, President Biden should prioritize the needs of American consumers and workers."

Sen. Daines echoed these sentiments: “Since Day One the Joe Biden administration has been on an anti-energy war path in an attempt to appease far-Left environmental groups,” he said. “Shutting down future coal production in eastern Montana will jeopardize our energy independence, raise costs for families and kill good-paying jobs.”

Rep. Zinke also weighed in: “This is another punitive targeted attack on Montana and will result in higher energy prices and lower energy security for Montanans,” he stated. “The United States has more coal than any other nation on Earth and the Crow Tribe relies on mining their clean coal and selling it around the world. We have the technology and expertise to mine it in a way that balances environmental stewardship and resource production. Coal provides jobs for thousands of Montanans and provides reliable energy to our power grid and can be sustainably mined for generations to come. Our goal should be expanding energy production in America, where we do it the cleanest, safest and the cheapest rather than bending the knee to environmental extremists.”