Federal judge revives Obama-era ban on coal sales from federal lands

A federal judge has reinstated a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama and then scuttled under former President Donald Trump.

Friday's ruling from US District Judge Brian Morris requires government officials to complete a new environmental review before they can resume coal sales from federal lands.

Few leases have been sold in recent years as coal demand shrank drastically. But the industry's opponents had urged Morris to revive the Obama-era moratorium to ensure it can't make a comeback as wildfires, drought, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change worsen.

The coal program brought in USD 387 million for federal and state coffers through royalties and other payments in 2020, according to government data. It supports thousands of jobs and has been fiercely defended by industry representatives, Republicans in Congress and officials in coal producing states.

Among President Joe Biden's first actions in his first week in office was to suspend oil and gas lease sales a move later blocked by a federal judge and he faced pressure from environmental groups to take similar action against coal.

The administration last year launched a review of climate damage from coal mining on public lands as it expanded scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Extracting and burning fossil fuels from federal land generates the equivalent of 1.4 billion tons (1.3 billion metric tons) annually of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, according to a 2018 report from the US Geological Survey. That's equivalent to almost one-quarter of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.