Foundation News

On January 15, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that the Obama Administration will be putting an immediate suspension on all new coal leases on federal public lands and undertaking a review of the entire federal coal leasing program. Secretary Jewell’s announcement follows President Obama’s statement in the State of the Union address that he would “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.”

For decades, the federal government has leased taxpayer-owned public lands to fossil fuel companies, and in return, we have gotten greenhouse gases that harm our climate, toxic pollution that makes our communities sick, and low royalty rates that subsidize fossil fuels and block clean energy. The Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign and Keep Dirty Fuels in the Ground Campaign, funded by the Sierra Club Foundation, have been working over the last few years to make sure a vast majority of U.S. coal and other fossil fuels stay in the ground. Thanks to hundreds of thousands of activists, who submitted comments, turned out to hearings, and took to the streets to hold the administration accountable to its commitment to climate action, we have a chance to stabilize the climate and defend our communities from the harm of coal extraction and pollution.  

This is a big win for climate. Fossil fuel production on public lands is responsible for more than 20 percent of America’s greenhouse gas emissions. About 40 percent of the coal burned in U.S. coal plants is mined on federal land, and much of that comes from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and other western public lands. Keeping most of the remaining coal in the ground is necessary to stabilize our climate.

A review of the federal coal program will demonstrate that coal leasing on public lands comes with health, environmental, and other costs to people and communities across the country. Stopping the shipping of subsidized federal coal will create more market space for clean energy and clean energy jobs. At the same time, any continuation of federal coal leases must take into account accelerating changes for coal economy communities and ensure that these leases generate sufficient funding to assist coal communities in the transition to a carbon-free economy.  

Secretary Jewell’s announcement kicks off a three-year Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement process to review coal leasing on public lands. The first scoping hearings will be in early 2016, and the Sierra Club will monitor its progress and stay involved to ensure the administration continues to steer the country on the right course toward a clean energy economy.

We thank President Obama and Secretary Jewell for this historic action for public lands and the climate.