Should the government encourage coal mining on public lands? | The Tylt

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.

But others say if the administration's choices will create jobs and boost the economy, that is what really matters.

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.
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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.

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.

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.