The Bureau of Land Management announced Thursday that it will not issue new coal leases in the Powder River Basin, the largest coal-producing region in the United States.
The shift is codified in the supplemental environmental impact statement that the agency issued for plans outlining the agency’s natural resource strategy for areas administered by the Miles City and Buffalo, Wyoming, field offices. The basin includes southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming.
In an emailed release issued by BLM’s Montana/Dakotas office, the agency underscored that the decision won’t apply to existing federal leases. It said the Rosebud Mine, which supplies coal to the Colstrip power plant, could continue operating through 2035. The Spring Creek Mine, located near Decker and operated by the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, could continue operating through 2060, per the agency.
“Both U.S. total coal production and Powder River Basin coal production peaked in 2008 and have since declined steeply, ” the BLM wrote in its release, citing data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration,
As with other changes the United States’ largest land manager has made in its approach to natural resource extraction and land management, the decision was lauded by coal-wary environmental groups and criticized by pro-industry groups and Republican politicians.
A member of the Northern Plains Resource Council, one of the groups that successfully launched a legal challenge to the agency’s earlier resource management plans, said in a statement that the agency had issued a “common sense plan that reflects the reality of today’s coal markets.”
“This plan protects taxpayers from wasting publicly-owned resources on lowball leases to subsidize an industry in decline,” said Mark Fix, a Miles City rancher and Northern Plains member. “It’s time we take a clear-eyed look at the future and start investing in a transition away from coal.”
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In keeping with national trends, coal-fired power has been a shrinking source of energy in Montana as coal plants like the Lewis & Clark Station in Sidney shutter and energy developers bring large wind farms online. The transition has been a rocky one, though, given coal’s economic footprint and availability.
Montana’s coal reserves are the largest in the nation and coal advocates have long been at odds with environmentalists and public health advocates over concerns that burning coal contributes to climate change. Coal power plants have also been linked to elevated mortality risks and the development of heart and lung problems in nearby communities.
“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,” Lynn Huskinson, a board member with the Western Organization of Resource Councils, said in a statement Thursday.
Four differing visions of coal leasing are outlined in the BLM’s 612-page planning document. Under the most permissive framework the agency analyzed, 1.2 million acres of BLM-administered land would have been available for coal leasing over the next six decades, resulting in the production of up to 340 million tons of coal. Under the “no leasing” alternative the BLM selected, the agency says that “there would be no emissions or air quality impacts from coal mining, transportation, and downstream combustion due to pending federal lease applications or potential future subsequent federal leases.”
Montana Republican officials Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, blasted the agency’s decision in a joint statement. Gianforte said the Biden administration is “driving up the cost of affordable energy and threatening the reliability of our electrical grid.”
Rosendale, who represents Montana’s eastern district in the U.S. House, said the decision’s “sole intent is to appease climate extremists.”
“BLM either does not understand or does not care that their unreliable green new deal energy sources are not feasible in places like Montana and pose real threats to our economy and national security,” Rosendale said.
Tester, the lone Democrat representing Montana on Capitol Hill, didn’t articulate a position for or against the agency’s decision in an emailed statement.
“I will always stand up to President Biden’s energy policies when they don’t make sense for Montana,” Tester said. “I’m reviewing the Administration’s proposal and encourage Montanans to make their voices heard during the public comment period.”
The release of the revised environmental impact statement starts a 30-day period during which any person or organization that has already participated in the planning process can protest the BLM’s decision.
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