Challenging Trump Administration’s Order to Open Public Lands to Coal Leasing

On March 29, 2017, Earthjustice and a coalition of environmental and tribal groups sued the Trump administration to challenge Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's order lifting a moratorium on federal coal leasing. The lawsuit argues that resuming leasing ignores previous findings that coal mining pollutes air and water, destroys wildlife habitats, and contributes approximately 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The coalition further contends that the current leasing system subsidizes the coal industry and shortchanges taxpayers, while existing leases are estimated to be sufficient to meet national coal needs for 20 years.

• Coal extracted from public lands accounts for over 40% of the total coal in the United States and is responsible for roughly 10% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
• The Interior Department's January 2017 review found that coal mining causes air pollution, stream contamination, and the destruction of wildlife habitats on public land.
• Audits from the Government Accountability Office and the Interior Department indicated that the federal leasing system provides subsidies to coal mining while failing to provide adequate returns to taxpayers.

APA

Earthjustice (2017). Challenging Trump Administration’s Order to Open Public Lands to Coal Leasing. https://earthjustice.org/case/challenging-trump-administration-s-order-to-open-public-lands-to-coal-leasing

Chicago

Earthjustice. Challenging Trump Administration’s Order to Open Public Lands to Coal Leasing. 2017. https://earthjustice.org/case/challenging-trump-administration-s-order-to-open-public-lands-to-coal-leasing.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Challenging Trump Administration’s Order to Open Public Lands to Coal Leasing |date=29 March 2017 |url=https://earthjustice.org/case/challenging-trump-administration-s-order-to-open-public-lands-to-coal-leasing |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2017challenging, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Challenging Trump Administration’s Order to Open Public Lands to Coal Leasing}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2017}, month = mar, url = {https://earthjustice.org/case/challenging-trump-administration-s-order-to-open-public-lands-to-coal-leasing}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }