"The Trump administration said Wednesday a resumption of coal sales from public lands that had been blocked under former President Barack Obama will result in a negligible increase in greenhouse gas emissions," reports Matthew Brown of The Associated Press. "Critics accused the administration of producing a flawed analysis of the federal coal program that ignores its broader impacts."
The Obama-era Interior Department banned most federal coal sales in 2016. Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lifted the moratorium in 2017, but in April 2019, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had failed to consider potential damage to the environment in making that decision, and told Interior to conduct an environmental review of its decision, Brown reports.
"The Trump administration review focused on potential emissions from only four coal leases in Utah and Oklahoma that were sold after the moratorium was lifted," Brown reports. "That’s a small piece of a federal leasing program that accounts for about about 40 percent of U.S. coal production, primarily from Western states that also include Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. Burning that fuel accounts for about 11 percent of annual U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.
The resumption of coal sales coincides with another Interior proposal to limit scientific studies that can be considered in making decisions. Under the plan, the agency could not consider studies that don't make all of their underlying data public, Rebecca Beitsch reports for The Hill.
"Critics argue that the move, described by the agency as an effort to increase transparency, would sideline landmark scientific research, particularly in cases where revealing such data would result in privacy violations," Beitsch reports. "The proposal, dubbed the Promoting Open Science rule, mirrors a similar effort at the Environmental Protection Agency, which critics argue would block that agency from considering renowned public-health studies."
The Obama-era Interior Department banned most federal coal sales in 2016. Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lifted the moratorium in 2017, but in April 2019, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had failed to consider potential damage to the environment in making that decision, and told Interior to conduct an environmental review of its decision, Brown reports.
"The Trump administration review focused on potential emissions from only four coal leases in Utah and Oklahoma that were sold after the moratorium was lifted," Brown reports. "That’s a small piece of a federal leasing program that accounts for about about 40 percent of U.S. coal production, primarily from Western states that also include Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. Burning that fuel accounts for about 11 percent of annual U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions.
The resumption of coal sales coincides with another Interior proposal to limit scientific studies that can be considered in making decisions. Under the plan, the agency could not consider studies that don't make all of their underlying data public, Rebecca Beitsch reports for The Hill.
"Critics argue that the move, described by the agency as an effort to increase transparency, would sideline landmark scientific research, particularly in cases where revealing such data would result in privacy violations," Beitsch reports. "The proposal, dubbed the Promoting Open Science rule, mirrors a similar effort at the Environmental Protection Agency, which critics argue would block that agency from considering renowned public-health studies."
Interior says the new rule would ensure that it uses only the most reliable data, but Andrew Rosenberg of the Union of Concerned Scientists told Beitsch it's meant to stifle science: "It doesn't do anything to help transparency. It’s designed to restrict the science the agency can use."
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