How Obama Can Prove He’s Changing Direction on Federal Coal

Earthjustice calls on the Obama administration to end the Forest Service's attempt to reopen a loophole allowing coal mining in 20,000 acres of Colorado roadless forest. The document asserts that mining 170 million tons of coal would release 130 million tons of carbon from combustion, displace 40,000 gigawatt hours of renewable power, and undermine Colorado's 2014 oil and gas rules. It highlights that the state's solar and wind industries employ over 10,000 people, significantly more than the approximately 300 jobs associated with the specific mine in question.

• The Forest Service estimated that allowing Arch Coal to mine 170 million tons of coal in a Colorado roadless forest would result in 130 million tons of carbon from combustion, plus additional greenhouse gases from methane venting, potentially causing billions of dollars in damage to the global economy and environment.
• Mining the coal in the proposed area would displace 40,000 gigawatt hours of renewable power, which is equivalent to 140,000 homes switching from 100 percent clean energy to 100 percent coal for 38 years.
• The methane released from mining the coal under the roadless area could negate nearly all climate benefits of Colorado's 2014 oil and gas rules, and burning the coal could offset 23 years of methane reductions from those rules.
• While supporters of the mining loophole cite approximately 300 jobs at Arch's mine, Colorado's solar and wind industries employ more than 10,000 people, which is about seven times the number of workers in the state's mines.
• Opening the roadless forest to road construction would destroy hundreds of acres of habitat for black bear, elk, and lynx.

APA

Earthjustice (2016). How Obama Can Prove He’s Changing Direction on Federal Coal. https://earthjustice.org/article/how-obama-can-prove-he-s-changing-direction-on-federal-coal

Chicago

Earthjustice. How Obama Can Prove He’s Changing Direction on Federal Coal. 2016. https://earthjustice.org/article/how-obama-can-prove-he-s-changing-direction-on-federal-coal.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=How Obama Can Prove He’s Changing Direction on Federal Coal |date=26 January 2016 |url=https://earthjustice.org/article/how-obama-can-prove-he-s-changing-direction-on-federal-coal |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2016how, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{How Obama Can Prove He’s Changing Direction on Federal Coal}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2016}, month = jan, url = {https://earthjustice.org/article/how-obama-can-prove-he-s-changing-direction-on-federal-coal}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }