Jonathon Berman, (202) 297-7533, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Today, just after Donald Trump signed an executive order meant to undermine U.S. climate policy, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke signed a Secretarial Order cancelling the moratorium on new and modified coal leasing on public lands. The temporary pause was put in place by the Obama Administration in 2016 as taxpayers were losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year while public lands, critical water resources, and the climate were being threatened and damaged.
The pause was put in place to ensure America does not lock in billions of tons of carbon pollution -- and lose hundreds of millions of dollars doing it -- until the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) can take long-overdue steps to modernize the coal leasing program to protect the climate and taxpayers. The mining and burning of taxpayer-owned coal accounts for approximately 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
The Sierra Club, along with a coalition of environmental groups, have announced that it will be suing the Trump administration for lifting the federal coal leasing moratorium.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“Donald Trump and Ryan Zinke have made it clear that they believe America’s public lands exist for only one purpose: fossil fuel development. This administration is selling us a bill of goods by handing our public lands to bankrupt coal companies for pennies on the dollar. Now, Americans will lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year to prop up a dirty and dying industry while our public lands are threatened and destroyed. Instead, clean air and water will be polluted, public health will be harmed, and the devastating effects of climate change will be accelerated and exacerbated.
“For far too long, coal companies have desecrated our public lands, ripping nearly 400 million tons of coal from them every year while polluting our clean air and water. These operations cut off water supplies for ranchers and damage air quality in our communities. By lifting this hold, Zinke and this Administration have revealed where their allegiances lie.
“Ryan Zinke may fancy himself as a modern day Theodore Roosevelt, but in reality he’s merely propping up the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our public lands.”
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