U.S. to end coal leasing in nation’s largest coal-producing region

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1. The Biden administration announced Thursday it will end coal leasing on federal lands in the Powder River Basin, which produces nearly half the coal in the United States.

   The [decision](https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-proposes-amendment-buffalo-field-office-management-plan) by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management affects a vast coal-producing region that covers more than 13 million acres across Montana and Wyoming, and it handed a long-sought victory to climate advocates. For years, they have fought to restore an Obama-era moratorium on coal mining on federal lands.

   But it angered Republican lawmakers in Montana and Wyoming, some of whom accused [President Biden](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) of waging a “war on coal,” even as the nation moves away from the fossil fuel because of market forces. It also infuriated mining interests.

   “At a time of deteriorating grid reliability, soaring electricity demand and ongoing concern about global energy shocks, proposing a plan of no new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin is outrageous,” said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association. “This damages American energy security and affordability and is a severe economic blow to mining states and communities.”

   In a final environmental impact statement released Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management found that continued coal leasing in the Powder River Basin would have significant consequences for the climate and public health. The bureau determined that no future coal leasing should happen in the basin, although existing coal mines can continue to operate on lands they have already leased.

   Read more here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/05/16/coal-leasing-powder-river-basin-climate/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/05/16/coal-leasing-powder-river-basin-climate/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)

2. Go Biden!

3. Holy smokes! Something good for a change? Hell yeah! Reject coal and bring on the Green New Deal!