Coal leasing is temporarily banned again on public lands after a Friday ruling by an Obama judge.
Almost half the nation’s annual coal production is mined by private companies from leases on federal land, mainly in Western states, including Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado, Fox News reports. The hard-left environmentalists also want to quickly ditch the remaining existing leases. As a result, we would have no coal.
In the US, electricity relies on coal.
Jenny Harbine, an attorney at Earthjustice who represented the environmental groups, said, “While this ruling reinstates the moratorium on new coal leasing on public lands, the Biden administration must go further by urgently phasing out the existing coal leases that are destroying our planet.”
It’s not destroying our planet, but these people are believers and way too powerful.
On Friday, federal Judge Brian Morris of the US District Court in Montana reinstated an Obama-era moratorium. As a result, coal leasing is temporarily banned on public lands.
The ruling reinstates a 2016 order by then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell banning coal leasing on federal lands pending further environmental review because of coal’s contribution to climate change. That order was scrapped in 2017 by Ryan Zinke, the Trump administration’s first Interior secretary.
Morris is an Obama judge.
Federal land leased for coal mining has declined steadily since 1990, from about 730,000 acres under lease to 435,535 acres in 2020. According to Bureau of Land Management data, this was mostly in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Montana. The most recent land bureau coal lease sale was scheduled for January 2020 in North Dakota.
The National Mining Association intervened in the case and said it would appeal.
“This is a deeply disappointing decision with energy-driven inflation, energy affordability, and energy security top concerns for Americans,” Rich Nolan, NMA president and CEO, said in a statement. “The reimposition of this moratorium couldn’t come at a worse time.”
Environmental groups and tribes hailed the ruling.
“While this ruling reinstates the moratorium on new coal leasing on public lands, the Biden administration must go further by urgently phasing out the existing coal leases that are destroying our planet. There is no room to continue producing coal in a climate emergency,” Jenny Harbine, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies office, said in a statement.
Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, sued the Trump administration in 2017. They challenged Zinke’s revocation of Jewell’s order establishing the moratorium. The case was consolidated with an identical suit filed by California, Washington State, New York, and New Mexico.
Environmental extremists are ruining the country. There is nothing to take the place of fossil fuels. Radicals are taking a 50-year plan to get off fossil fuels and stuffing it into seven years. They are destroying our economy and the entire western world. These leftists are one-issue people with radical views.
The Deep State must be rid of Trump so they can keep us energy dependent!
If the USA is going to allow itself to be destroyed by the leftist elitist crooks, then the USA deserves to be destroyed. Our system had strong checks and balances such as voting to prevent this. There is no excuse voting for leftists, everyone sees what they are doing or is too ignorant to understand.
Liz Cheney won’t speak up against the corrupt establishment ruling. Two days before her primary, she is far behind, and will not take that obvious step. I wonder what senators are being elected in coal states this year?
Where does the Federal Government and the Courts get the Power to interfere with the Economy like this? How does the Federal Government just take over State Land for no defined purpose such as Roads? These lands belong to States? Why is there even an EPA? Mad-Made Climate Change can not be proven, so why is there even a Governmental environmental movement?
Take California. In the 1970, Automobile Pollution was a serious problem due to overcrowding in places like LA. California has the strictest pollution Standards in the Nation. California didn’t need the EPA for this. Why do we have an EPA?
We have already seen the destruction of the Economy by Traitor Joe’s reckless Petroleum Policy. Now we have a Judge destroying Energy Production. How does a Judge get this kind of power? Judges don’t have the power to pick and choose Laws they like and don’t like. The regulation that he reinstated was made null and void in 2017. It no longer exist! We can’t have Judges reinstating Laws they like. We need to stop Activist Judges from making Law from the Bench. Didn’t Judges learn anything from Roe v Wade? Republicans need to immediately Impeach Judges who Legislate from the Bench.
And where does the President get to create “moritoriums”, a Law restricting Trade, without the consent of Congress? Also a Federal Judge’s Ruling should be limited only to his district and no more of this Nation Wide Crap!
I doubt the feds have that power, and surely not a trouble making district judge.
The feds should not be owning state land, they should be leasing it only for needed purposes.
The long-term energy consequences of radical environmentalism are devastating to the economy. Their is little or no capital available for nearly any form of exploratory drilling or long-term investment. The USA will become tot energy dependent within a few years.
We are already Energy Dependent. That is why Traitor Joe is pulling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The energy department has led to energy problems.
The education department has led to education problems,
The justice department has led to justice problems.
These agencies are working against us.
Back in the early 70s there was a group of Lyndon Larouche followers. He was a former democrat congressman who was disgruntled and felt he knew more. Their top point was that the elites were going to use environmentalism to shut down our energy and create a negative growth situation. They were ridiculed. (They were the ones with the “nuclear power is safer than Ted Kennedy’s car” signs at airports. Nuclear power is disappearing fast in the USA now.) We are in a negative growth situation.