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Tell the Obama administration: Shut down the federal coal leasing program

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Tell the Obama administration: Shut down the federal coal leasing program

52% We've reached 13,113 of our goal of 25,000.

“Leasing dirty coal to corporations for a fraction of its value is undermining the administration’s efforts to slow climate change. Immediately end the federal coal leasing program.”

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Tell the Obama administration: Shut down the federal coal leasing program

The federal coal leasing program is a disaster for the climate, with billions of tons of dirty coal sold to corporations for dirt cheap prices during the Obama administration alone.

But right now we have a crucial opportunity to change that and keep publicly owned dirty coal in the ground where it belongs.

The Obama administration is on the verge of reforming the federal coal leasing program. It is seeking public comments on how the program should be reformed – but only until September 17.

Add your name: Shut down the federal coal leasing program. Submit a public comment now.

Despite everything we’ve learned about climate change in the past quarter-century, the rules governing the federal coal leasing program haven’t been updated in more than 25 years. Since then, coal companies have learned to exploit loopholes and shield themselves from royalty payments,1 cheating taxpayers out of an estimated $1 each year.2

But in a warming world with rising sea levels, deadly superstorms, raging wildfires and catastrophic droughts, a bad deal for taxpayers pales in comparison to the program’s climate consequences.

With 310 active coal leases spanning 475,000 acres in 10 states, the federal coal leasing program is a massive source of climate torching greenhouse gas emissions. All told, the program accounts for an astounding 40% of all coal mined in the United States.3 It’s incompatible with efforts to slow climate change, and it needs to be shut down now.

Tell the Obama administration: The federal coal leasing program is torching the planet. It must be shut down.

As Greenpeace noted in a report last year, the 2.2 billion tons of publicly-owned coal leased during the Obama administration alone are responsible for more carbon pollution than the annual emissions of 825 million cars.4 Worse, the Interior Department’s current plan is to eventually open up another 10.2 billion tons of publicly-owned coal to mining in the future.5

The science is grim. According to a study published recently in the journal Nature, we must leave at least 90 percent of remaining U.S. coal reserves in the ground to have just a 50-50 chance of stopping runaway climate change.

If President Obama actually wants to get serious about climate change before he leaves office, he needs to stop making the problem worse. And shutting down the federal coal leasing program is a big part of what he needs to do to stop making climate change worse.

Submit your public comment now: Tell the Obama administration to stop the dirty coal giveaway once and for all.

'It's Time to Update Coal Rules That Are Costing Taxpayers Millions,' Huffington Post, July 31, 2015.

'Federal Coal Program Costing Taxpayers And States More Than $1 Billion Per Year In Lost Royalties,' Think Progress, January 28, 2015.

'BLM to hold Federal Coal Program Listening Session in Gillette,' Bureau of Land Management, August 11, 2015.

'Leasing Coal, Fueling Climate Change,' Greenpeace.

'The 10 Billion Tons of Coal That Could Erase Obama's Progress on Climate Change,' Vice, May 29, 2015.