WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, January 13, 2016
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 the heels of the President Obama’s final State of the Union address where he committed to “change the way we manage...our coal” to address the costs of climate change to our planet, a coalition today called on the Administration to reject two new public lands coal leases under consideration by the U.S. Interior Department.

“The President has an enormous opportunity right now to make a 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 chance to follow through with his commitment to the American people to confront the true cost of coal and help our nation move beyond fossil fuels.”

The call comes as federal and state officials are scheduled to meet on January 27 to decide whether to move forward with two new public lands coal leases in the Powder River Basin of northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana.

The meeting was scheduled in response to demands from the coal industry for the West Antelope III and Decker South leases, which would expand massive strip mines in the Powder River Basin, the largest coal producing region in the U.S.  In total, these leases would hand over the rights for industry to rip more than 640 million tons of coal from more than 5,500 acres and sell it for burning.

More than one billion tons of carbon emissions stand to be unleashed once the coal is burned.  The leases are being pursued by Cloud Peak Energy (West Antelope III) and Lighthouse Resources (Decker South), both companies that actively export coal from the Powder River Basin and that are looking to expand their export capabilities.

In a letter to the President, which was also sent to key White House and U.S. Department of the Interior officials, the coalition of local, regional, and national environmental and energy groups called on the Administration to reject the proposed leases.  Citing the disastrous climate consequences, the likelihood that the coal would be exported overseas, and a lack of industry need, the groups urged Obama to rebuff industry demands.

The letter comes as the President remarked last year that, “if we’re going to prevent large parts of this Earth 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 burn them and release more dangerous pollution into the sky.”

The Interior Department’s management of publicly owned coal has increasingly come under fire over its climate impacts.  More than 40% of all coal produced in the U.S. comes from public lands coal leases, primarily in the American West.  Reports indicate this coal is responsible for 11% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Numerous pleas for Interior to put the brakes on new coal leasing have been offered in the last several years, including a renewed call last December from a broad coalition.  In August, WildEarth Guardians offered Interior a plan to end the federal coal program.  In December, Guardians put together a series of interactive maps exposing the federal coal program and its climate impacts, focusing on the Rocky Mountain West and the Powder River Basin.

On January 27, the Powder River Regional Coal Team, a committee of federal and state of Montana and Wyoming officials, is going to meet in Casper, Wyoming to decide on whether to direct Interior  to spend taxpayer money and agency time to process the West Antelope III and South Decker coal leases.  If the Coal Team says “no,” Interior will deny 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 in northeastern Wyoming and contains 441 million tons of coal.  The lease would expand Cloud Peak Energy’s Antelope Mine, currently the fourth largest producer in the U.S.  The South Decker lease covers 2,389 acres in southeastern 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,” said Nichols.  “It starts with the Obama Administration rejecting these leases and sending a clear message to the American public and the coal industry that it’s no longer in the business of destroying the climate.”

Groups joining today’s letter include the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Center for Biological Diversity, Clean Energy Action, and Rainforest Action Network.