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Coalition Calls on Obama Administration to Reject New Coal Sales
Coalition Calls on Obama Administration to Reject New Coal Sales
New Public Lands Coal Leases Would Unlock Massive Amounts of Carbon, Fuel Exports
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 437-7663
Denver—On theheels of the President Obama’s final State of the Union address where hecommitted to “change the way we manage…our coal” to address the costs ofclimate change to our planet, a coalition today called on the Administration toreject two new public lands coal leases under consideration by the U.S.Interior Department.
“The President has an enormous opportunity right now to makea tremendous difference for our climate and our future,” said Jeremy Nichols,Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “More importantly, the President has a chanceto follow through with his commitment to the American people to confront thetrue cost of coal and help our nation move beyond fossil fuels.”
The call comes as federaland state officials are scheduled to meet on January 27 to decide whetherto move forward with two new public lands coal leases in the Powder River Basinof northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana.
The meeting was scheduled in response to demands from thecoal industry for the West Antelope III and Decker South leases, which wouldexpand massive strip mines in the Powder River Basin, the largest coal producingregion in the U.S. In total, theseleases would hand over the rights for industry to rip more than 640 milliontons of coal from more than 5,500 acres and sell it for burning.
More than one billion tons of carbon emissions stand to beunleashed once the coal is burned. Theleases are being pursued by Cloud Peak Energy (West Antelope III) and LighthouseResources (Decker South), both companies that actively export coal from thePowder River Basin and that are looking to expand their export capabilities.
In a letter to the President, which was also sent to keyWhite House and U.S. Department of the Interior officials, the coalition oflocal, regional, and national environmental and energy groups called on theAdministration to reject the proposed leases. Citing the disastrous climate consequences, the likelihood that the coalwould be exported overseas, and a lack of industry need, the groups urged Obamato rebuff industry demands.
The letter comes as the Presidentremarked last year that, “if we’re going to prevent large parts of thisEarth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes,we’re going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burnthem and release more dangerous pollution into the sky.”
The Interior Department’s management of publicly owned coalhas increasingly come under fire over its climate impacts. More than 40% of all coal produced in theU.S. comes from public lands coal leases, primarily in the American West. Reports indicate this coal is responsible for11% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Numerous pleas for Interior to put the brakes on new coalleasing have been offered in the last several years, including a renewedcall last December from a broad coalition. In August, WildEarth Guardians offered Interior a plan to end the federalcoal program. In December, Guardiansput together a series of interactive maps exposingthe federal coal program and its climate impacts, focusing on the RockyMountain West and the Powder River Basin.
On January 27, the Powder River Regional Coal Team, acommittee of federal and state of Montana and Wyoming officials, is going tomeet in Casper, Wyoming to decide on whether to direct Interior to spend taxpayer money and agency time toprocess the West Antelope III and South Decker coal leases. If the Coal Team says “no,” Interior willdeny the leases. If the Coal Team says“yes,” Interior will move forward and ultimately offer the leases for sale.
The West Antelope III lease covers 3,508 acres innortheastern Wyoming and contains 441 million tons of coal. The lease would expand Cloud Peak Energy’sAntelope Mine, currently the fourth largest producer in the U.S. The South Decker lease covers 2,389 acres insoutheastern Montana and contains 203 million tons of coal. The lease would expand Lighthouse Resources’Decker Mine, where the company intends to increase production threefold.
“It’s time to start keeping our coal in the ground,” saidNichols. “It starts with the ObamaAdministration rejecting these leases and sending a clear message to theAmerican public and the coal industry that it’s no longer in the business ofdestroying the climate.”
Groupsjoining today’s letter include the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth,Greenpeace, Center for Biological Diversity, Clean Energy Action, andRainforest Action Network.