Energy

Today, Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke announced the Greater Yellowstone Recreation Enhancement and Tourism Act, legislation that would designate nearly 100 miles of the Madison and Gallatin Rivers and select tributaries as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

 Today, Western Congressman Ryan Zinke voted in favor of H.R. 8998 - the House Department of Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act . The bill passed the House by a vote of 210-205, this is the fifth appropriations bill to pass the House floor for fiscal year 2025.  Zinke is a member of the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies subcommittee and took a leading role in crafting the funding bill.

Today the Biden Administration announced that the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has launched the Columbia River Task Force to implement Biden’s long promised plan to remove dams on the Snake River system that supply western Montana with affordable and reliable electricity. These dams provide between 60-70% of the electricity in the Pacific Northwest. Hydropower is the most abundant, affordable, and cleanest source of energy available in Montana, heavily relied upon for baseload power. 

Today Congressman Ryan Zinke announced he has cosponsored seven bills to protect four dams in the Columbia River System that supply power to Northwest Montana.

 Today, Congressman Ryan Zinke, U.S. Senator Steve Daines, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, and Congressman Matt Rosendale released the following statements after the Biden administration released a new Resource Management Plan Amendment prohibiting future coal leases in eastern Montana through 2038.

Today in a House Appropriations Interior, Environment and Related Agencies subcommittee hearing, Congressman Ryan Zinke pressed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan on the Biden Administration targeting Montana’s primary source of energy, Colstrip, with new power plant rules signed on April 25, 2024. The rules include a blitz of regulations designed – in the words of EPA administrator Michael Regan – to force accelerated retirements of the coal fleet. 

Today, Congressman Ryan Zinke introduced a resolution expressing Congressional disapproval of President Biden’s planned carbon tax. The Resolution cites the negative impacts that would come with implementing a carbon tax. If enacted, a carbon tax would exacerbate the increasing energy costs consumers pay to power their vehicles, homes and businesses. There would also be downstream impacts to manufacturing, transportation and construction industries, as well as increases in the costs of food and goods. Additionally, it would further cement China’s role in manufacturing “green” technologies to meet Biden’s climate agenda.

Today, the United States House of Representatives approved the Energy and Water appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2024 which authorizes spending to more than $57 billion in Energy and Water programs including the Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers water projects. This is the fifth individual appropriations bill House Republicans have passed, the Senate has failed to pick up one.