The Wyoming congressional delegation on Tuesday urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to reverse a decision to block new leases in the nation’s most prolific coal basin.
The delegation — comprised of Republican Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman — said in a letter that the Interior Department’s move would “severely affect the people of Wyoming and the state’s economy,” while also putting “electric reliability across the country at risk.”
The department in May unveiled Bureau of Land Management plans that would overturn Trump-era decisions and effectively end new federal coal leases in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming.
The proposal would not end coal production in the basin because existing leases would be allowed to continue producing. Still, the move does reflect the Biden administration’s longstanding goal to wean the nation off coal.