WildEarth Guardians

Monday, September 16, 2013
U.S. Interior Department Still Leasing More Coal, Despite Industry Rejection, Climate Implications

Guardians Calls on Sally Jewell to Cancel 167 Million-ton Sale Schedule this Week
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 437-7663

Cheyenne, WY—Despite the fact that the coal industry itself is rejecting new leases, the U.S. Department of Interior, headed by new Secretary, Sally Jewell, is blazing forward this week, attempting to sell 167 million tons of federal coal for burning in power plants worldwide.

“Sally Jewell's coal frenzy is threatening our climate and our country's clean energy future, and bizarrely comes at a time when even industry isn’t interested in more coal,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians' Climate and Energy Program Director.  “It's unconscionable that the Interior Department would be so dismissive of our nation's need to curtail carbon pollution and so oblivious to the state of the market.  It’s time for Sally Jewell to stop putting coal first.”

Slated to be auctioned this Wednesday, September 18, is the Hay Creek II coal lease, which would expand the Kiewit Corporation’s Buckskin strip mine in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, the largest coal producing region in the U.S.  When burned, the coal threatens to release 305 million tons of carbon dioxide, the same amount released annually by 57 million cars.

The sale comes as the Interior Department was rebuffed last month in an effort to sell another lease in the Powder River Basin.  Comprising 147 million tons of coal, that lease would have expanded Cloud Peak Energy’s Cordero Rojo mine.  Cloud Peak is the third largest U.S. coal company and the largest exporter of coal from the Powder River Basin.  Interior was forced to cancel the lease sale after Cloud Peak refused to even submit a bid, stating that the economics were “not prudent.”

Kiewit, which is mostly known as an international construction company, has been seeking the Hay Creek II lease even though it already has 14 years of coal reserves at the Buckskin mine, which is located north of Gillette, Wyoming.  The move for the Hay Creek II coal lease comes even as Kiewit’s other mining endeavors, including the new Hay Stack mine in southwestern Wyoming, are shutting down. 

In a letter sent to Kiewit on September 11, Greenpeace, WildEarth Guardians, and others called on the company to abandon its plans for the Hay Creek II lease.

“With 14 years of coal already under reserve at the Buckskin mine, Kiewit seems to be gunning to get its foot in the export door,” said Nichols.  “It’s bad enough that the majority of Powder River Basin coal is burned here in the U.S., fueling our global warming footprint, now companies like Kiewit seem to be eyeing overseas markets.  Truly, Interior’s coal leasing decisions today could have devastating global impacts tomorrow.”

WildEarth Guardians has filed suit in federal court to stop a slew of new coal leases in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, including Hay Creek II.  And, despite calls for a moratorium on new coal leasing Secretary Jewell is pressing forward for more strip mining. 

Regardless of whether the coal is exported, leasing is a significant blow for the climate.  Because a lease conveys the right to mine, the sale of a federal lease virtually guarantees that coal will be mined and burned.  Despite efforts to curtail power plant pollution in the U.S., more leasing means these efforts may ultimately fall short. 

“We can’t meaningfully confront global warming in the U.S. while hundreds of millions of tons of coal are being proposed for leasing,” said Nichols.  “So long as Interior is enabling a coal market that seems on shaky ground in the first place, we will not be able to transition to clean energy.”

The Hay Creek II coal lease is slated for sale at 10:00 A.M. Wednesday, September 18, at the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management office in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Guardians will be present to witness the sale.