Big News--Biden Administration Cancels Future Coal Leases in Powder River Basin.
Rural organizing and legal strategy led the way in historic ruling, one of the largest victories yet for the "keep it in the ground" climate movement.
On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed termination of future coal leases on federal land in the Powder River Basin of northeast Wyoming and southern Montana. The Powder River Basin is the nation’s largest coal producing region. Production has decreased substantially in the past 20 years.
BLM released their final environmental impact statement related to two Powder River Basin resource management plans. The BLM selected the “no future coal leasing alternative,” finding that continuing the Powder River Basin coal leasing program would have significant impacts to public health, climate, and the environment. Existing mines will continue to operate and can develop already-leased coal resources, but expansion into further publicly-owned coal reserves will not be allowed.
Rural organizers in Wyoming and Montana hailed the ruling, celebrating years of work demanding fossil fuel company accountability in the region.
“Coal has powered our nation for many decades, but technology, economics and markets are changing radically. BLM’s announcement recognizes that coal’s era is ending, and it’s time to focus on supporting our communities through the transition away from coal, investing in workers, and moving to heal our lands, waters and climate as we enter a bright clean energy future,” said Paula Antoine, Western Organization of Resource Councils Board Chair, from Winner, South Dakota, in a press release.
“As someone who lives near some of the largest coal mines in the nation, I’m thankful for the leadership from the BLM in finally addressing the long-standing negative impacts that federal coal leasing has had on the Powder River Basin,” said Lynne Huskinson, retired coal miner and board member of Powder River Basin Resource Council and Western Organization of Resource Councils from Gillette, WY. “For decades, mining has affected public health, our local land, air, and water, and the global climate. We look forward to BLM working with state and local partners to ensure a just economic transition for the Powder River Basin as we move toward a clean energy future.”
“The BLM released a common sense plan that reflects the reality of today’s coal markets,” said Mark Fix, a Miles City, MT rancher and member of Northern Plains Resource Council. “Coal companies in this region already have decades of coal locked up in leases, and it’s hard to imagine they’ll find buyers that far into the future given the competition from more affordable energy sources. This plan protects taxpayers from wasting publicly-owned resources on lowball leases to subsidize an industry in decline. It’s time we take a clear-eyed look at the future and start investing in a transition away from coal.”
The Republicans, as expected, are accusing the Biden Administration of “weaponizing federal agencies to advance their radical climate agenda.”
In a statement similar to many GOP responses, House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-AR) went further, claiming that the BLM ruling is terminating, “future coal leasing in Wyoming and Montana for the next 14 years while the U.S. struggles to meet base load power requirements and hardworking families pay record-high prices for energy. Instead of supporting American jobs and energy, President Biden is barring access to the resources necessary to power homes and businesses and support thousands of good-paying jobs.”
The BLM developed the environmental impact statement and plan amendment under a 2022 court order from the United States District Court for the District of Montana. The lawsuit was brought by Western Organization of Resource Councils, Montana Environmental Information Center, Powder River Basin Resource Council, Northern Plains Resource Council, Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians, and Sierra Club. The groups were represented legally by attorneys from Earthjustice, the Western Environmental Law Center, and Sierra Club.
NOTE FROM BRYCE:
This is a big deal!
This historic victory—if it holds—would not have been possible without a deep commitment to local community organizing by rural groups. Long-term, committed, local organizing combined with a savvy legal strategy was key to this victory. Let’s wish these rural leaders luck as they work through the region’s transition to the next step.
—Bryce
The Cocklebur covers rural policy and politics from a progressive point-of-view. Our work focuses on a tangled rural political reality of dishonest debate, economic and racial disparities, corporate power over our democracy, and disinformation peddled by conservative media outlets. We aim to use facts, data, and science to inform our point-of-view. We wear our complicated love/WTF relationship with rural America on our sleeve.