Recently appointed U.S. Senator John Barrasso garnered praise from both sportsmen and tourism industry officials with his introduction of the Wyoming Range Legacy Act of 2007. Indeed, this act is the rare conservation bill that seems to appease even the energy industry.

Here's a round-up of viewpoints from a column in this week's Planet Jackson Hole:

Sportsmen for the Wyoming Range’s Tom Reed said, “It’s really fantastic.”

“It preserves a product that is vital to what we have to market and sell,” Diane Shober, director of Wyoming Travel and Tourism, added. “It will contribute to the long-term enhanced value of Wyoming’s tourism product.”

Even Bruce Hinchey, executive director of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said he was a fan of the bill. He pointed out that the bill still would allow some existing leases to be developed and would enable companies to take part in buyback programs if they wanted. “We understand there are areas the Senator and others feel need to be protected for scenic values,” he said. “We will continue to work with him and companies will do the same.”

Too bad Barrasso wasn't as visionary in his consideration of America's Climate Security Act (aka Lieberman-Warner), which moved from a Senate subcommittee on to debate in the full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week. Barrasso joined Senators Johnny Isakson and Bernard Sanders in voting against the bill, which, nevertheless, was forwarded along to the full committee with slim 4-3 approval.

In a press release after the vote, Barrasso spent more time patting himself on the back for adding two amendments to Lieberman-Warner than he did explaining why he ended up voting against the bill.

The first successful Barrasso amendment ensures that Wyoming, and all states, receive financial assistance to ease any negative impacts the legislation would have on state economies.

The second successful Barrasso amendment allows lower British thermal unit (Btu) coal to qualify for capture and sequestration program incentives, This provision is important because Wyoming coal has less than 9,000 Btu.

So, why did Barrasso vote against Lieberman-Warner? Apparently, the bill didn't go far enough in establishing Wyoming at the forefront of clean-coal technology nationally.

Methinks that even if the bill would have designated the University of Wyoming the new home of a national center for coal research — something Barrasso pledges to fight for in committee — King Coal's hands are too deep into Senators Barrasso and Enzi's, and Representative Cubin's pockets for any of them to ever vote in favor of climate change legislation.

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