The Biden Administration Must End Our Reliance on Coal

The document calls for the immediate phase-out of the U.S. federal coal leasing program, citing a 2021 study stating that 90% of global coal reserves must remain unextracted by 2050 to meet a 1.5°C climate target. It highlights two recent court victories: one re-imposing a moratorium on new coal leasing on federal lands until a comprehensive environmental analysis is completed, and another striking down resource management plans for the Powder River Basin. The author asserts that the Biden administration must now address the harm from existing leases, noting that as of 2021, the Bureau of Land Management administered 299 federal coal leases across approximately 458,600 acres.

• To achieve a 1.5°C climate target, a 2021 study indicates that 90% of the world's coal reserves must not be extracted by the year 2050.
• A federal court has re-imposed a moratorium on new coal leasing on federal lands because the decision to end the previous moratorium failed to legally account for climate and other harmful impacts.
• In August, a court invalidated two Trump-era resource management plans for the Powder River Basin, the largest coal-producing region in the U.S., because they did not comply with orders to account for public health impacts and alternatives to coal leasing.
• As of 2021, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered 299 federal coal leases covering approximately 458,600 acres, and the author argues the administration must now account for the harm caused by mining these existing leases.

APA

Harbine, J. (2022). The Biden Administration Must End Our Reliance on Coal. Earthjustice. https://earthjustice.org/experts/jenny-harbine/the-biden-administration-must-end-our-reliance-on-coal

Chicago

Harbine, Jenny. The Biden Administration Must End Our Reliance on Coal. Earthjustice, 2022. https://earthjustice.org/experts/jenny-harbine/the-biden-administration-must-end-our-reliance-on-coal.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Harbine |first1=Jenny |title=The Biden Administration Must End Our Reliance on Coal |publisher=Earthjustice |date=23 September 2022 |url=https://earthjustice.org/experts/jenny-harbine/the-biden-administration-must-end-our-reliance-on-coal |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{harbine2022biden, author = {Harbine, Jenny}, title = {{The Biden Administration Must End Our Reliance on Coal}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://earthjustice.org/experts/jenny-harbine/the-biden-administration-must-end-our-reliance-on-coal}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }