Bureau of Land Management schedules two major coal leases, undermining President Obama’s climate action plan

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August 14, 2013

An aerial view of North Antelope-Rochelle mine, part of the Black Thunder Mine in the Southern Powder River Basin. Black Thunder opened in 1977 and for many years was the largest single coal operation in the world. It is also the first coal mine in the world to transport one billion tons of coal. Having in 2004 been relegated to second-largest, after Peabody's North Antelope-Rochelle operation, also in the Powder River Basin, Black Thunder once again became the nation's leading coal-producer following Arch Coal's acquisition of the neighbouring North Rochelle mine from Triton Coal Co. In October 2009, Arch purchased Jacobs Ranch mine from Rio Tinto and merged it with its Black Thunder mine to become the world's largest coal mining complex. The combined operation supplies over 10% of the total US coal production. In 2004, Black Thunder became the first coal mine in the US to ship a cumulative 1,000Mst (907Mt) over its 27-year life to date. Since its opening, the mine has produced and delivered around 2.2 billion tons of coal.

© Greenpeace / Tim Aubry

Next week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)plansto sell 148 million tons of publicly owned coal, making clear that BLM continues to ignore concerns about the carbon pollution from coal mining, burning and export proposals. In addition to this lease sale, known as Maysdorf II, BLM has alsoscheduledthe sale of the Haycreek II lease sale for next month, which would give the mining industry access to another 167 million tons of our coal at subsidized rates – the last major Powder River Basin coal lease salewentto Peabody for just $1.10 per ton. Unless Interior Secretary Sally Jewell steps in to cancel them, these two upcoming lease sales will unlock over 500 million metric tons of carbon pollution – more than the annual emissions of 100 million cars. By continuing to subsidize the extraction of hundreds of millions of tons of publicly owned coal, BLM is undermining President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.

The Hay Creek II and Maysdorf II leases are moving forward despite the Interior Departments ownInspector General reportrevealing several flaws in the federal coal management program. Among the key findings of the IG is that the BLM is failing to take into account coal exports when selling federal leases, and that for every penny coal is undervalued, taxpayers lose $3 million. Although the IG report did not calculate the total amount of revenue denied to the public, areportby the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found that taxpayers have lost nearly $30 billion because of flaws in the way that fair market value is determined.

Of even greater concern is that selling publicly owned coal at rates of around $1 per ton amounts to a major fossil fuel subsidy, favoring coal at the expense of cleaner forms of energy. Between 2011-2012, BLM leased over 2.1 billion tons of coal in the Powder River Basin, unlocking nearly 3.5 billion metric tons of CO2. These and other concerns about the federal coal leasing program were detailed in alettersent to Interior Secretary Jewell on her first day on the job from the leaders of 21 environmental, health, and consumer organizations. In July, several organizations againcalledon Secretary Jewell to fix the flaws in the federal coal management program and to stop selling new coal leases in the meantime. Over135,000 people have sent messages to Secretary Jewellto establish a moratorium and with the two new coal leases looming, hundreds more have called her office this week.

Interior Secretary Jewell should cancel these and all upcoming coal lease sales and reform the federal coal leasing program to address concerns that it is fueling climate change, subsidizing coal export proposals, and cheating taxpayers.

Strip mining for coal in the Powder River Basin

Strip mining coal in the Powder River Basin

crossposted from Grist

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