White House to freeze new coal mining efforts as it reviews industry

[IDemo]

Source: NY Daily News

The Obama administration will announce a moratorium Friday on new coal mining and an overhaul of how the U.S. manages coal development on public land, according to officials.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is expected to unveil the measures at midday Friday from New Mexico, one of five western states with tens of thousands of acres of federal land under lease.

The freeze on new mining is expected to give the government the opportunity complete a comprehensive review that would determine whether the fees charged to mining companies provide a fair return to taxpayers.

The moves will please environmentalists, who have urged the White House to reexamine how fossil fuel development contributes to climate change.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/white-house-freeze-new-coal-mining-review-article-1.2497820

[newfie11]

1. GOOD!!!!!!

[Botany]

2. coal has real costs

n/t

[n2doc]

3. Let the wailing and gnashing begin! n/t

[houston16revival]

4. Real, renewable carbon fuel

is wood chips

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

5. Don't forget the corruption...

... just a month or so ago a coal company owner/CEO was sentenced.

http://www.register-herald.com/news/former-massey-energy-ceo-don-blankenship-convicted-of-conspiracy/article_cc8bfd0d-2e6d-5bb8-937d-154329589515.html

[lark]

6. Hope they are serious about this.

They need to look at the safety record of the mine owners and levy huge fines on those that run unsafe operations or even take legal action to close them down if they are repeat offenders. Wonder how far they'll go?

[packman]

7. This surprised me - from Sierra Club site

"An astonishing 40 percent of all coal burned in the United States comes from our public lands. In fact, fossil fuel production on public lands is responsible for more than 20 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Yet this is the first time in history that the federal coal program's impact on our climate will be studied. We know that we must keep most of our coal in the ground if we are going to stabilize our climate. "