The Biden administration announced Thursday it will end coal leasing on federal lands in the Powder River Basin, which produces nearly half the coal in the United States.
The decision by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management affects a vast coal-producing region that covers more than 13 million acres across Montana and Wyoming, and it handed a long-sought victory to climate advocates. For years, they have fought to restore an Obama-era moratorium on coal mining on federal lands.
But it angered Republican lawmakers in Montana and Wyoming, some of whom accused President Biden of waging a “war on coal,” even as the nation moves away from the fossil fuel because of market forces. It also infuriated mining interests.
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“At a time of deteriorating grid reliability, soaring electricity demand, and ongoing concern about global energy shocks, proposing a plan of no new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin is outrageous,” said Rich Nolan, president and chief executive of the National Mining Association. “This damages American energy security and affordability and is a severe economic blow to mining states and communities.”
In a final environmental impact statement released Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management found that continued coal leasing in the Powder River Basin would have significant consequences for the climate and public health. The bureau determined that no future coal leasing should happen in the basin, although existing coal mines can continue to operate on lands they have already leased.
The United States is already moving away from coal, which has struggled to compete economically with cheaper gas and renewable energy. US coal output tumbled 36 percent from 2015 to 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration. The Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign contends that 382 coal-fired power plants have closed down or proposed to retire, with 148 remaining.
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Yet the Powder River Basin continues to supply more than 43 percent of all coal produced in the United States. Burning all of that coal releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide emissions that are dangerously warming the Earth.
Environmentalists celebrated the Bureau of Land Management’s decision as an important step in curbing America’s contribution to climate change.
“BLM’s announcement recognizes that coal’s era is ending, and it’s time to focus on supporting our communities through the transition away from coal, investing in workers, and moving to heal our lands, waters, and climate as we enter a bright clean energy future,” Paula Antoine, board chair of the Western Organization of Resource Councils, said in a statement.
Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, slammed the decision and accused Biden of furthering President Barack Obama’s “war” on coal.
“President Biden continues to wage war on Wyoming’s coal communities and families,” Barrasso said in a statement. “This will kill jobs and could cost Wyoming hundreds of millions of dollars used to pay for public schools, roads, and other essential services in our communities. Cutting off access to our strongest resources surrenders America’s greatest economic advantages — to continue producing affordable, abundant, and reliable American energy.”
Obama first froze federal coal lease sales in 2016, but President Donald Trump lifted that freeze two months after taking office. The move was part of Trump’s effort to fulfill his campaign promise to revive the struggling US coal industry.
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WASHINGTON POST
RFK Jr.’s running mate gives another $8m to campaign
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, Silicon Valley investor Nicole Shanahan, said Wednesday night that she had given another $8 million to their independent presidential campaign as it carries out the expensive endeavor of gaining ballot access across the country and tries to propel Kennedy onto debate stages.
Shanahan’s new donation, which she announced at a comedy fund-raiser in Nashville, brings her total contribution to the campaign to $10 million, not including the $4 million she gave to a super political action committee backing Kennedy to help pay for a Super Bowl advertisement this year. Shanahan, a lawyer who was formerly married to Google cofounder Sergey Brin, gave the campaign $2 million shortly after Kennedy named her as his running mate in March.
After a nod to the media, Shanahan said, “I think I know what they’re going to say — they’re going to say Bobby only picked me for my money,” a remark that drew laughter from the crowd.
Shanahan’s comments came near the end of a four-hour event at the storied Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. She followed performances by comedians including Russell Brand, Rob Schneider, and Jim Breuer, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member. Many of the performers praised Kennedy, but they also used their time onstage to rail against COVID vaccinations, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the mainstream news media, and President Biden.
NEW YORK TIMES
Hogan backs codifying Roe, calls himself ‘pro-choice’
Larry Hogan, the former two-term Republican governor of Maryland who this week won his party’s nomination for the state’s open Senate seat, said in an interview on Thursday that he supports legislation to codify abortion rights in federal law, describing himself as “pro-choice” in a remarkable pivot as he heads into a highly competitive race.
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Mr. Hogan, who just two years ago vetoed a state law to expand abortion access in Maryland, also said he would vote to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s Constitution, a measure that will be on the ballot in November. He had previously declined to take a clear stance on either issue.
“I support restoring Roe as the law of the land,” Mr. Hogan said, referring to the now-overturned 1973 decision establishing abortion rights. “I’ll continue to protect the rights of women to make their own reproductive choices just like I did as governor for eight years. I think Marylanders know and trust that when I give them my word, I’m going to keep it, and I’ve protected these rights before. And I’ll do it again in the Senate by supporting a bipartisan compromise to restore Roe as the law of the land.”
Asked whether he viewed himself as “pro-life” or “pro-choice,” Mr. Hogan said, “Given the definition of what I’m supporting — women’s rights to make their own decision — I would say that’s pro-choice.”
NEW YORK TIMES
Senator Bob Menendez’s wife being treated for breast cancer
Nadine Menendez, the wife of Senator Bob Menendez, is being treated for breast cancer and will undergo a mastectomy, her husband revealed Thursday.
Menendez announced his wife’s cancer diagnosis in a statement released while he was in US District Court in Manhattan, where he is on trial on charges that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for political favors.
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“We are of course concerned about the seriousness and advanced stage of the disease,” Menendez, 70, said in the statement. “We hope and pray for the best results.”
The timing of the announcement, issued by his Senate office, was conspicuous and punctuated a remarkable first week on trial. It came less than a day after the senator’s lawyers told jurors in an opening statement that Nadine Menendez, 57, was largely to blame for the gold bars and other lucrative bribes prosecutors say he took in exchange for helping Egypt and New Jersey businesspeople.
Bob Menendez said he was releasing the information now because of “constant press inquiries and reporters following my wife.” He asked that she be given privacy as she battles cancer, which he described as “grade 3.”
A lawyer for Nadine Menendez could not immediately be reached for comment. She has not appeared in court.
Nadine Menendez was originally scheduled to stand trial with her husband and two other defendants beginning this week. But last month, the judge presiding over the case, Sidney H. Stein, agreed to grant her a delay and separate trial in July after her lawyers informed the court that she was dealing with a “serious medical condition” that would require surgery.
NEW YORK TIMES