Abby L. Harvey
GHG Daily
1/19/2016
As was hinted at during President Barack Obama’s Jan. 12 State of the Union address, the administration on Friday afternoon announced a moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands. During the pause on coal leasing, the Interior Department will conduct a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) review of the federal coal program “in order to ensure that it is properly structured to provide a fair return to taxpayers and reflect its impacts on the environment, while continuing to help meet our energy needs,” according to an announcement from the department.
“We haven’t undertaken a comprehensive review of the program in more than 30 years, and we have an obligation to current and future generations to ensure the federal coal program delivers a fair return to American taxpayers and takes into account its impacts on climate change,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in the announcement.
The moratorium will apply only to new leases and will not affect leases already in place, according to the Interior Department. Currently, coal production on federal lands accounts for roughly 40 percent of all U.S. coal production. “There will be limited, commonsense exemptions to the pause for small lease modifications (160 acres or less), coal lease exchanges, certain preference right lease interests, and emergency leasing as defined by the [Bureau of Land Management’s] current regulations, such as where there is a demonstrated safety need or insufficient reserves,” according to an Interior Department fact sheet.
Specific details about what will be covered by the PEIS will be decided though a public scoping process, but according to an Interior Department order, a list of minimum topics to be addressed has been submitted. The PEIS will, at least, address: how, when and where to issue coal leases; whether the bonus bids, rents, and royalties received under the federal coal program are successfully securing a fair return to the public; what the climate impacts of leasing coal on federal lands are; whether the current federal coal leasing program adequately accounts for externalities related to federal coal production; whether leasing decisions should consider if the coal produced will be used domestically or exported; and the degree to which federal coal supports fulfilling the energy needs of the nations.
A PEIS for the federal coal program was last conducted in 1983-1984. That review process also included a pause on coal leasing. An interim report is expected by the end of the year.
The announcement came three days after Obama’s State of the Union, during which the president said that in his last year in office he would “push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet.”
While the president’s statement made the announcement less of a surprise, coal industry proponents were still upset. “Today’s announcement to halt federal coal leasing represents just the latest front in an ideological War on Coal that has contributed to devastation in communities in Eastern Kentucky and to the loss of thousands of jobs across the commonwealth,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell has been angered in the past by a number of coal industry regulations developed under the Obama administration.
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R), whose state economy relies heavily on coal, was equally distraught over the announcement, suggesting the administration find a way to keep coal in the nation’s energy mix. “The Administration’s move today is drastic and uncalled for. Not only will it hurt miners and all businesses that support coal mining, it will take away all the competitive advantage coal provides to every U.S. citizen. If there was a serious attempt to address the President’s climate change concern, the Administration should be investing, as Wyoming is investing, to make real improvements in carbon capture, sequestration and utilization technology,” Mead said.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was equally outraged. “At this point, it is obvious that the President and his administration won’t be satisfied until coal is completely eradicated from our energy mix. Their foolish crusade takes away one of America’s greatest strengths—our diverse mix of energy sources,” Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said in a release.
As expected, the response from the other side of the aisle was somewhat different. “With 40 percent of coal coming off federal lands, it’s extremely important that taxpayers aren’t shortchanged by coal companies who mine on federal lands. For too long, coal companies have gotten away without paying their fair share,” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also cheered the announcement, though at the same time suggesting the action does not go far enough. “We have a moral responsibility to leave our kids a planet that is both healthy and habitable. The best way we can do that is by keeping fossil fuels in the ground, which is why I co-sponsored legislation last year with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to stop all new fossil fuel leases on public lands.”
The “Keep it in the Ground” bill was announced in November 2015 and would serve three main purposes: to stop new and end nonproducing coal, oil, gas, oil shale, and tar sands leases on all federal lands; to stop new leases and end nonproducing leases for offshore drilling in the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico; and to prohibit offshore drilling in the Arctic and the Atlantic.
Sanders’ statements were echoed abroad as Norwegian environmental group Bellona offered up its two cents. “Though environmentalists like [Jonas Helseth, director of Bellona Europa] and [Sirin Engen, a Bellona adviser on CCS] generally praised the announcement, they noted that the administration should still do more to completely end fossil fuel development – and tackle coal both on federal lands and on a state-by-state basis,” an article posted by the group Monday said.
