Barrasso votes no on Interior nominee

Bob Beck — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:58:02 +0000

The Senate Energy Committee voted to approve the nomination of Sally Jewel to be the next Interior Secretary despite the objections of Wyoming U-S Senator John Barrasso.

Barrasso was one of three members of the Senate Energy Committee to oppose the nomination. Barrasso told the committee that he received vague answers from Jewel concerning a variety of topics, but his largest criticism surrounds the fact that Jewel was Vice Chairman of the National Parks Conservation Association.

DOI to investigate coal sales to overseas markets

Irina Zhorov — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:20:22 +0000

The US Department of the Interior has assembled a task force and an action plan to investigate coal exports. The move comes after a letter from US Senators Wyden, of Oregon, and Murkowski, of Alaska, asked the agency to find out whether coal companies are properly reporting their sales. Increasingly, Wyoming’s coal producers are examining markets overseas to make up for a slump in domestic sales. Companies can fetch significantly higher prices for coal in Asian markets, and by selling through an affiliated intermediary, they could report the initial sale instead of the higher, final sale.