Company plots to snap up coal on our public lands for cheap

On September 29, we submitted comments to stop a massive strip mine in Wyoming from expanding, further fueling the climate crisis.

The Bureau of Land Management is considering giving away 441 million tons of coal on our public lands to Cloud Peak Energy to expand its Antelope strip mine. The mine, located in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin—the nation’s largest coal-producing region—is the third-largest coal mine in the United States. The proposed lease would extend the mine’s life an additional 10 years.

To add salt to the wound, Cloud Peak wants rights to the coal not because the industry demands it, but because the Bureau of Land Management is selling it for rock-bottom prices of less than $1 per ton. In effect, taxpayers are paying for the company to pad its pockets at the expense of our planet even as the coal industry collapses, unable to compete with renewable energy and lower natural gas prices.

The Bureau of Land Management is continuing to accept comments on the lease.

Read the press release.

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