U.S. to end coal leasing in nation's largest coal-producing region The Biden administration's decision ends new leasing
Source: Washington Post
U.S. to end coal leasing in nation’s largest coal-producing region
The Biden administration’s decision ends new leasing in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana following years of lawsuits.
By Maxine Joselow
Updated May 16, 2024 at 2:05 p.m. EDT | Published May 16, 2024 at 1:57 p.m. EDT
A dump truck hauls coal at Contura Energy's Eagle Butte Mine near Gillette, Wyo. (Mead Gruver/AP)
The Biden administration announced Thursday it will end coal leasing on federal lands in the Powder River Basin, which produces nearly half the coal in the United States. ... The decision by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management affects a vast coal-producing region that covers more than 13 million acres across Montana and Wyoming, and it handed a long-sought victory to climate advocates. For years, they have fought to restore an Obama-era moratorium on coal mining on federal lands.
But it angered Republican lawmakers in Montana and Wyoming, some of whom accused President Biden of waging a “war on coal,” even as the nation moves away from the fossil fuel because of market forces. It also infuriated mining interests. ... “At a time of deteriorating grid reliability, soaring electricity demand and ongoing concern about global energy shocks, proposing a plan of no new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin is outrageous,” said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association. “This damages American energy security and affordability and is a severe economic blow to mining states and communities.”
In a final environmental impact statement released Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management found that continued coal leasing in the Powder River Basin would have significant consequences for the climate and public health. The bureau determined that no future coal leasing should happen in the basin, although existing coal mines can continue to operate on lands they have already leased.
The United States is already moving away from coal, which has struggled to compete economically with cheaper gas and renewable energy. U.S. coal output tumbled 36 percent from 2015 to 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration. The Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign contends that 382 coal-fired power plants have closed down or proposed to retire, with 148 remaining.
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By Maxine Joselow
Maxine Joselow is a staff writer who covers climate change and the environment. Twitter https://twitter.com/maxinejoselow
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/05/16/coal-leasing-powder-river-basin-climate/
"... existing coal mines can continue to operate on lands they have already leased."
I see a lot of coal from the PRB moving along the tracks of the UP and NS.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Magat heads in Montana and Wyoming are exploding so hard I can hear them over on the other end of the state!
