Should the government encourage coal mining on public lands? | The Tylt
The Trump administration is encouraging more coal mining on lands owned by the federal government. Supporters say the government must take advantage of commercial opportunities on public lands and help the struggling American coal industry find more jobs. But environmentalists say the expansion of mining and drilling would devastate water supplies and ecosystems, and the Interior Department should not be allowed to sell off the American West to the oil and gas industry. What do you think? 🏭 🌄

Many argue President Trump's appointment of Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior was essentially putting coal and gas interests in charge of our public lands. Critics say he is not there to defend or conserve these lands, he is there to advocate for the extraction industry.
“If we hand over control of these lands to a narrow range of special interests, we lose an iconic part of the country — and the West’s identity,” said Chris Saeger, executive director of the Montana-based environmental group Western Values Project.
Trump, in effort to expand coal production, faces opposition from ranchers and tribe leaders https://t.co/q8DGqNzskE pic.twitter.com/HOuRL39rSO
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) August 7, 2017
But others say if the administration's choices will create jobs and boost the economy, that is what really matters.
Longer these clueless politicians pursue climate change as a platform the better. Don't tell them what matters to people are jobs & economy.
— ♥️North Carolina♥️ (@_North_Carolina) August 6, 2017
Supporters of President Trump say the move is necessary to unwind years of catastrophic and burdensome policies the Obama administration placed on energy companies. With coal usage in Asia peaking, many coal exporters are stuck trying to abide by unfriendly business policies.
But Trump's new push could enable American producers to compete with overseas producers and create new jobs.
Richard Reavey, the head of government relations for Cloud Peak Energy, which operates a strip mine here that sends coal to the Midwest and increasingly to coal-burning power plants in Asia said Mr. Trump’s change of course was meant to correct wrongs of the past.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The Obama administration, he said, had become intent on killing the coal industry, and had used federal lands as a cudgel to restrict exports. The only avenues of growth currently, given the shutdown of so many coal-burning power plants in the United States, are markets overseas.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“Their goal, in collusion with the environmentalists, was to drive us out of the export business,” Mr. Reavey said.
But many economists say coal jobs are not coming back—these decisions aren't about putting Americans back to work, they're about creating billions in profit for the oil and gas industry.
These WV jobs are not coming back: pic.twitter.com/gxa4b0bYy4
— Tom Herron (@gifuoh) August 5, 2017
They say coal mining will destroy our public lands and contribute to global warming, and that drilling in national parks is not a 21st-century solution to our economic and environmental problems.
Keep our National Parks safe from dirty energy. Do not open up public lands to oil and coal.
— Shannon (@msroomandboard) August 1, 2017
But the Bureau of Land Management is highlighting the valuable natural resources on America's public lands, saying we need to take advantage of them.
#DYK: Public lands produce >40% of our nation’s coal. One lb. of coal can run ten 100W light bulbs for an hour. #poweredbypubliclands pic.twitter.com/x9hgWn1nPk
— BLM Eastern States (@BLM_ES) July 24, 2017