At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing today, Senator John Thune expressed his growing frustration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Lisa Jackson, regarding the agency’s overreaching, burdensome environmental policies, which continue to negatively impact our nation’s farmers and ranchers. Thune also expressed his frustration with EPA’s continued delay in... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune, along with Senator Johnson and Representative Herseth Sandlin, today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting that South Dakota livestock producers who are unable to generate adequate forage for their livestock this year-due to excessive rainfall and subsequent flooding-be allowed to... Continue Reading
Senators Chuck Grassley, John Thune, Mike Johanns and Kit Bond today pressed President Barack Obama on his administration’s decision to further delay the entry of E15 blends of gasoline into the market. The Senators asked the President for prompt action on the waiver petition and immediate consideration of an interim... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today commented on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule for regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses emitted from stationary sources, such as power plants and ethanol plants, under the Clean Air Act. “As expected, the Obama administration’s EPA has laid out a policy that will... Continue Reading
The Senate Agriculture Committee today accepted Senator John Thune’s amendment to the Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Senator Thune’s amendment would set aside funding for research into hunger, obesity, and type 2 diabetes on Native American reservations and other tribal communities. The Agriculture Committee proceeded to pass the bill, clearing... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson urging the agency to not move forward with proposed regulations on the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that would amount to a national energy tax. The tax would increase energy rates paid... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has allocated an additional 33,500 acres to South Dakota for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). This announcement is part of a 300,000 acre nationwide general CRP sign up. CRP, which was reauthorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, provides... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today applauded the announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture expects to commit $2 million to the Black Hills National Forest to fight the effects of the pine beetle infestation. Last year, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced he would be reallocating $40 million to fight the... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune today highlighted a letter sent by agricultural groups in South Dakota and across the nation expressing support for a Senate resolution of disapproval under the terms of the Congressional Review Act to be offered by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The resolution formally states the Senate’s disapproval of... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune made the following statement in response to the endangerment finding issued today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that classifies for the first time carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions as pollutants under the Clean Air Act: “This decision lays the groundwork for EPA to undercut... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune applauded today’s announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the agency has determined the black-tailed prairie dog does not require designation as a threatened or endangered species. “Anyone who lives or ranches on the grasslands of South Dakota can see that prairie dogs are thriving,... Continue Reading
Senator John Thune last week sent a letter along with seven other Senators to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to commit additional resources to the Rocky Mountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to fight the widespread bark beetle infestation. The Rocky Mountain Region has 17 national forests... Continue Reading
