Decision is a reversal from the Biden administration, will keep coal mining in southern Montana for at least another 16 years
By Darrell Ehrlick DAILY MONTANAN
Job cuts, tariffs — and in Montana, coal — may be the most visible evidence of the stark differences between the Biden administration and Donald J. Trump’s second term as president. In just a matter of weeks, the Trump administration has switched directions completely and now says it will open up at least one large tract of federal land to more coal production.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement released its decision on leasing federal coal tracts near the Spring Creek Mine in Decker, relying heavily on a presidential executive order, while abandoning environmental concerns.
Last year, the Biden administration had announced that it would be halting much coal leasing in eastern Montana, and had made steps toward stopping coal leasing on federal tracts of land due to concerns about climate change.
However, Trump’s executive order, EO 14154, which was better known as “Unleashing American Energy,” rescinded the work of years of study and prioritizing pollution and climate impacts above energy production. That led the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to change direction, which will allow the Decker mine to access an additional 39.9 million tons of coal — work that could keep the mine operational for as many as another 16 years, according to the 24-page decision.
Montana’s all-Republican Congressional delegation cheered the decision in a joint press release.
“Today’s decision to approve the federal mining plan modification for Spring Creek Mine illustrates this administration’s unwavering commitment to unleashing American energy. After years of foot dragging from Biden’s Department of the Interior, Big Horn County’s mining community can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I thank Secretary (Doug) Burgum and his team for their expeditious review that will extend the life of the mine by 16 years and my fellow delegation members for their hard work to make Montana mining great again,” said Rep. Troy Downing, whose Congressional district includes Decker.
However, while the decision aligns with the Trump administration’s energy policies, it may not be the final word in the coal controversy. Environmental groups had previously challenged the first Trump administration’s approval of the project, saying that the agency had not properly conducted an environmental impact statement which took into account the environmental impacts of more coal. Federal district court judge Susan P. Watters ultimately agreed with those groups and ordered the agency to complete the environmental evaluation, which it did.
The new record of decision says that it has now incorporated those findings in its latest environmental impact statement, which includes concerns about the “social costs of carbon” that encompass evidence of rising global temperatures, increased fire and more potent natural disasters. However, the agency also dismissed those concerns, saying that Trump’s executive order and the National Environmental Policy Act which governs permit approval only requires the environmental impacts to be disclosed, but doesn’t mandate action in those areas.
The “social costs of carbon” was an economic model and concept being formulated by a group of federal employees across different departments that developed models which quantified the effects of carbon and methane on the climate and in turn, on the economy. The Trump administration withdrew and rescinded all of the work, conclusions and policies of that group on the first day of his presidency via executive order.
“The calculation of the ‘social cost of carbon’ is marked by logical deficiencies, a poor bases in empirical science, politicization and the absence of a foundation in legislation,” the executive order said. “Its abuse arbitrarily slows regulatory decisions and, by rendering the United States economy internationally uncompetitive, encourages a greater human impact on the environment by affording less efficient foreign energy producers a greater share of the global energy and natural resource market.”
In the closing days of the Biden administration, it had recommended not approving the leases on the federal tracts of land, leaving the Spring Creek Mine to mine from other private and public tracts. The Biden administration and the final environmental impact statement agreed not allowing more mining was preferable because “it would cause the least amount of adverse environmental effects from the production or combustion of the remaining (Spring Creek) tracts of coal.”
But after Trump took office and released a new executive order, the Office of Surface Mining switched courses.
“The No Action alternative was not selected for OSMRE’s recommendation decision because it does not meet the purpose and need, and it does not align with current national policy to encourage energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters,” the decision said.
Federal officials also defended the decision, saying environmental justice was not the only consideration required to make a decision, something the Biden administration had said as recently as April 2023.
“To reach its decision OSMRE considered only the applicable statutory and regulatory requirements necessary for approval of the mining plan modification,” it said.
The Spring Creek Mine, located in Decker, 32 miles north of Sheridan, Wyoming, is owned by the Navajo Transitional Energy Company.
