Pres. Obama Declares 3-Year Moratorium on Coal Leasing Program

[Frodo]

Obama Halts Federal Coal Leasing Citing Climate Change:
The U.S. temporarily halts coal leasing on federal lands to reassess its policy in light of global warming

By Bobby Magill, Climate Central on January 15, 2016

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[Virginiá]

Just got this clip in of reactions from Democratic politicians in Kentucky and West Virginia:

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

These mainly affect open pit mines which has more ephemeral employment than the shafts which carry  (carried, anyway) entire communities for decades. So not terrible for unemployment. Bit terrible for lazy/feckless state legislatures who thought they could get away with not having a remotely feasible tax system if they could cover it up with fossil revenues "that would be there forever" (which, norwegian left-wing aside, applies to literally every single government that finds itself sitting on natural resources in history).

I think chucking the bipartisan support for coal (by dumping support for Blue Dogs) was the worst mistake the coal industry could have made - and the coal industry as a whole have been making an astonishingly farcical series of mistakes in recent years, so that's saying something. Because if Obama had tried to do this in his first term, or even in 2013, there would have been uproar amongst a large swathe of the party. Now, with them all defenestrated, there's crickets.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Great news!
Obama shows once again why he is the best president since FDR.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

With existing coal prices, was there even any interest in new leases right now?  Just from the viewpoint of long term fiscal responsibility, this is a good time for a moratorium.

[Zioneer]

Uh, three years when it's the last year of his term? Is there something Obama isn't telling us, or is he just assuming Hillary will win and continue the program?

[James Monroe]

Anther achievement from the Obama presidency!

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Yeah, this is a one-year moratorium.

[Potus]

When will the President stop pretending he's a crusader for the poor while simultaneously working to destroy the livelihood of the poorest region of the country? We hear an awful lot about the inner city, but poor people with guns and faith? They'll be just fine.

[DINGO Joe]

When will the President stop pretending he's a crusader for the poor while simultaneously working to destroy the livelihood of the poorest region of the country? We hear an awful lot about the inner city, but poor people with guns and faith? They'll be just fine.

As noted above by others, the rule barely impacts places like WV and Kentucky which have been poor since Kennedy ran for President.  It ultimately could impact Wyoming and Montana which produce prodigious amounts of lower BTU coal but actually employ few miners.  WY and MT produce about half of the US coal by volume but employ maybe 12% of the miners.

WV coal has problems about 1000x bigger than this:

http://www.platts.com/latest-news/metals/singapore/global-seaborne-met-coal-prices-need-30-mil-mt-26339213

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Met coal used for steel making has historically fetch a higher price than thermal coal.  A higher price means that you could afford to utilize more labor intensive mines .  The highest priced and rarest coal is anthracite which still employs around 1000 miners in East PA to mine about 2 million tons a year, if all coal required that ratio of miners/ton then the US would still have 450,000 miners instead of the 65-70,000 currently employed.

In 2013 about 1/3rd of the coal produced in WV was exported,  primarily to European steel mills, by 2017.....

As I'll repeat ad nauseum, WV went from being one of the youngest states in 1950 to the third oldest now, it's number one in disability, number one in drug overdose deaths, it's dead last in adults with a college degree.  It has a very difficult terrain which makes things like utilities and roads difficult to maintain.  Except for government jobs a certain Senator dragged in to the state it's proven to have no ability to attract non-coal jobs, not surprising with what was listed above (the exception to almost all this is the Eastern panhandle which has no coal industry and more favorable geography and proximity to civilization). 

Obama has floated economic development programs target towards the CAPP region but Mitch and the other Rs haven't embraced them.  I am somewhat skeptical of the potential of success for such programs again given the rather difficult nature of maintaining infrastructure in many locales (think of Detroit slapped into the mountains).  It may be best to let the region return to a more natural population.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

When will the President stop pretending he's a crusader for the poor while simultaneously working to destroy the livelihood of the poorest region of the country? We hear an awful lot about the inner city, but poor people with guns and faith? They'll be just fine.

At least you have your guns and religion to cling to. The people in New York don't .

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

There is also a announced package which would redirect fossil fuel royalties towards fossil-fuel dependent communities. I don't know how wooly it is (I read a glowing summary on Vox, but you know what Vox can be like), but it's not like he's pissing over Appalachia.

[Brittain33]

Freedom Moratorium

[Intell]

Great, let's cut back on jobs that poor people in the poorest region of the US have, just for the sake of environmentalism.

[CapoteMonster]

Great, let's cut back on jobs that poor people in the poorest region of the US have, just for the sake of environmentalism.

[DINGO Joe]

Great, let's cut back on jobs that poor people in the poorest region of the US have, just for the sake of environmentalism.

Wyoming is barely populated, but it's not poor.

[MaxQue]

Great, let's cut back on jobs that poor people in the poorest region of the US have, just for the sake of environmentalism.

Wealthy owners already cut those jobs, there is no jobs to cut anymore.

[Intell]

Great, let's cut back on jobs that poor people in the poorest region of the US have, just for the sake of environmentalism.

Wealthy owners already cut those jobs, there is no jobs to cut anymore.

It's not like the government can't do anything to bring bring these jobs, well they're aren't because they elected republcans, but in WV there is a possibility.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Great, let's cut back on jobs that poor people in the poorest region of the US have, just for the sake of environmentalism.

Wealthy owners already cut those jobs, there is no jobs to cut anymore.

It's not like the government can't do anything to bring bring these jobs, well they're aren't because they elected republcans, but in WV there is a possibility.

How are they going to bring back the jobs?  Take coal extraction technology back 50 years so it is just as labor intensive as it used to be?

[Oak Hills]

When will the President stop pretending he's a crusader for the poor while simultaneously working to destroy the livelihood of the poorest region of the country? We hear an awful lot about the inner city, but poor people with guns and faith? They'll be just fine.

The coal industry is already going to die anyway, regardless of what Obama does.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The reason the coal industry has historically a source of often violent union conflict and radicalism is that coal mining (despite its romanticism) is a filthy, highly dangerous job. I think it's a tragedy what has happened in Appalachia and I hope the government forms some sort of solution soon, but the answer isn't to bring back these jobs ... somehow (de-mechanisation? public subsidy).

[Landslide Lyndon]

When will the President stop pretending he's a crusader for the poor while simultaneously working to destroy the livelihood of the poorest region of the country? We hear an awful lot about the inner city, but poor people with guns and faith? They'll be just fine.

The coal industry is already going to die anyway, regardless of what Obama does.

It's easier to say that "it's all the nig**r's fault" than accept the painful reality.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Great, let's cut back on jobs that poor people in the poorest region of the US have, just for the sake of environmentalism.

Wealthy owners already cut those jobs, there is no jobs to cut anymore.

It's not like the government can't do anything to bring bring these jobs, well they're aren't because they elected republcans, but in WV there is a possibility.

How are they going to bring back the jobs?  Take coal extraction technology back 50 years so it is just as labor intensive as it used to be?

^^^

Yeah, natural gas is but one of the final nails in the coffin of coal. It's been declining for 50 years and it's not coming back.

Now if you want to argue about how pro- or anti-fracking/natural gas Obama's administration has been that is providing many communities with a badly needed cash boost, that's one thing. But coal is long gone and it's time to move on.