Lisa’s response to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s election guide questions can be found here, along with responses from other candidates.
Category: Economic Justice
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Importing Foreign Beef is Not the Answer
Trump is planning to increase the amount of tariff-free beef from Argentina to lower hamburger prices by 25%. Ranchers oppose this action because of their high operating costs and low herd numbers. The number of cattle is low because of drought, wildfires, and livestock disease and the cost of diesel is outrageous with one rancher telling me it costs him $125 to fill up his truck. Fertilizer is expensive due to Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz. Lowering beef prices shouldn’t mean hurting Wyoming ranchers. Washington could help Wyoming ranchers solve the problem by rebuilding cattle herds, expanding local processing, and bringing back the Country of Origin legislation so consumers can identify American beef. “We can bring grocery prices down by increasing American production and competition – not by asking Wyoming ranchers to take the hit,” responded President Justin Tupper of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA). He continued, “You don’t put America first by putting U.S. cattle producers last.”
I will work to help American ranchers and residents by removing tariffs on everyday products as well as introducing legislation to bring back Country of Origin labeling. My goal is to help all consumers as soon as possible.
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Data Center Concerns
I have developed a five-point legislative bill to address new Data Centers being considered throughout Wyoming. I hear or read about city councils and county commissioners making plans to possibly annex data centers into their areas. The Cheyenne City Council on August 10th approved the annexation of a 34-acre property for a data center development staging area according to Cap City News. The Laramie City Council and Albany County Commissioners met August 11th to look at options in both places, and while there is nothing large enough in Laramie’s city limits, there is in the county. Wyoming is cool, dry, and empty. Our kids need jobs. However, we do not have enough scientific information to fully analyze what these centers mean to our well-being. They should be required to go through the Industrial Siting Act, which they can now avoid by being annexed into an industrial park, or claiming the project is worth less than $250 million. An adept State Senator or Representative can fix this by adding the words “data center” into the required list. But as a member of Congress, I plan to introduce a bill that:
- All data centers must have closed loop systems;
- All discharge must be regulated to avoid toxic contamination of water sources;
- Companies must incur cost of increased energy so that the cost of electricity does not increase for citizens;
- Location of centers with set back of five miles from housing and neighborhoods and;
- A cap on noise operational limits.
I would propose a moratorium of six months to a year minimum for research in order to create regulations that determine what other issues exist and to work with other levels of government to protect our citizens. We are moving too fast on these possibly damaging projects.