The Obama administration announced a moratorium Friday on new leases for coal mined from federal lands. The order is a reflection of President Barack Obama's review of the management of natural resources that he had announced in his State of the Union address.
"I'm going to 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," Obama had said in the address on Jan. 12, according to The New York Times.
"Given serious concerns raised about the federal coal program, we're taking the prudent step to hit pause on approving significant new leases. 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," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, announcing the temporary halt and declaring that existing coal leases would continue to meet the supply for the U.S.'s electricity needs, reported The Washington Post.
Republicans were critical of the move. "There seems to be no limit to the number of job-crushing regulations, executive orders and insults Secretary Jewell and President Obama will throw at America's middle class," said Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, according to The Wall Steet Journal. Wyoming is home to 80 percent of all coal mined on public lands.
Environmental activists were jubilant after the decision. "Any good-faith effort to meet international climate targets necessitates that the vast majority of all remaining coal, oil and natural gas on federal lands must stay in the ground," said Elijah Zarlin, director of climate campaigns at activist group CREDO, reported Reuters.
The review is likely to take three years. Meanwhile, companies who already have a lease can continue to mine coal reserves. The coal reserves under lease are estimated to be enough to sustain current levels of production from federal land for the next 20 years.
