Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman introduced legislation to block the Bureau of Land Management’s plan to end coal leasing in the nation’s richest coal basin.
Hageman’s move highlights the growing pushback BLM is facing after unveiling a proposal to overturn Trump-era policy and end new federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming.
Hageman’s H.R. 8781, introduced Tuesday, would block BLM’s plan from taking effect. She warned the agency’s proposal would end coal production in Wyoming by 2041, shutter a dozen active mines there and make 48 billion short tons of government-owned fuel off limits.
“This rule means economic collapse for Wyoming and lights out for America,” Hageman said in a statement. “This bill is the first step, and I will not stop until this threat to Wyoming from our own federal government is defeated.”
