U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has billed his move to re-open federal lands to new coal leases as a win for miners seeking to expand production.
But a review of company filings shows that coal miners with the most to gain already have enough leases in hand to last well over a decade.
Trump will sign a decree to reverse former President Barack Obama’s 2016 ban on new federal coal leases, part of a wide-ranging executive order to sweep away green regulations his administration says have hobbled the drilling and mining industries.
“When we evaluate energy, let’s look at the social cost of not having a job,’’ Trump’s Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a Twitter post on Tuesday ahead of the executive order.
But companies focused on coal deposits below federal lands, such as Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, and Cloud Peak, have enough coal in the ground on existing leases to last an average of more than 17 years at 2015 sales levels, earnings reports show. (Reuters/NAN)
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