U.S. officials launch review of climate damage caused by coal mining on public lands as the Biden administration expands its scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
FILE - In this April 4, 2013, file photo, a mechanized shovel loads a haul truck that can carry up to 250 tons of coal at the Spring Creek coal mine near Decker, Mont. On Thursday, June 3, 2021, a U.S. judge has rejected the Biden administration's attempt to delay a lawsuit from several states and environmentalists who are seeking to end lease sales for coal mining on federal lands.
Coal combustion for electricity remains one of the top sources of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, even after many power plants shut down over the past decade because of concerns over pollution. Among President Joe Biden's first actions in his first week in office was to suspend oil and gas lease sales — a move later blocked by a federal judge — and he faced pressure fromFew leases have been sold in recent years as coal demand shrank drastically, but the industry’s opponents want to ensure it can’t make a comeback as wildfires, drought, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change worsen, according to a report last week from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The coal program brought in $387 million for federal and state coffers through royalties and other payments last year, according to government data. It supports thousands of jobs and has been fiercely defended by industry representatives, Republicans in Congress and officials in coal producing states.
The Biden administration had sought to delay the legal challenges, but a federal judge said in June that the states and environmentalists faced potential damage if the case got stalled. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris cited pending lease applications for thousands of acres of federal land holding at least 1 billion tons of coal.
“We're sitting here in record heat and choking wildfires,” Harbine said. “There couldn't be a more important time of the administration to take action to end fossil fuel production from our federal lands.”
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