WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, December 1, 2016
U.S. Bureau of Land Management Throws Climate Under Bus, Plans Last Minute Giveaway to Fossil Fuel Industry

Coal Sale Planned for Utah, Will Hand Over Public Lands, Unleash Millions of Tons of Carbon Pollution
Contact: Jeremy Nichols, (303) 437-7663, jnichols@wildearthguardians.org

Salt Lake City, UT—In response to demands from a private coal company, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management today proposed to sell 60 million tons of publicly owned coal underlying more than 6,000 acres Utah’s Fishlake and Manti-La Sal National Forests.

“Sadly, the Bureau of Land Management seems to believe the profits of the fossil fuel industry are more important than the climate,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director.  “This latest coal sale is nothing short of a giveaway of our public lands and stands as a shameful sign that the Bureau of Land Management is beholden to coal companies, not to Americans.”

In a notice published today, the Utah State Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Edwin Roberson, announced the agency’s plans to sell the Greens Hollow coal lease on January 4, 2017. 

The controversial coal lease would open the door for Bowie Resources, a privately owned coal company, to mine nearly 60 million tons of coal.  When burned, this coal stands to unleash more than 120 million tons of carbon, equal to the amount of climate pollution released every year by 23 million cars.

Today’s announcement comes even as President Obama has made protecting the climate a signature goal of his Administration.  Earlier in 2016, the President’s Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, imposed a moratorium on new federal coal leasing.

The Bureau of Land Management claims the Greens Hollow coal lease is exempt from the Secretary’s moratorium, however.