Meanwhile . . . Salazar Annnounces Interior Leases For 750 Million Tons Of Wyoming Coal

[hatrack]

Federal land in Wyoming holding roughly 750 million tons of coal will be leased to mining companies, the Interior Department announced. The leases will generate $13.4 billion to $21.3 billion, with roughly half of the proceeds going to the State of Wyoming, according to federal estimates.

The leases cover 7,400 acres in Wyoming’s coal-rich Powder River Basin, the nation’s top coal-producing region. The tracts are the “first of more than a dozen” coal leases in the region that are to be auctioned off in the next three years, the Interior Department said.

“Coal is a critical component of America’s comprehensive energy portfolio as well as Wyoming’s economy,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at a news conference on Tuesday in Wyoming. “It’s important that we continue to encourage safe production of this important resource.”

Mr. Salazar was joined by Matt Mead, the state’s Republican governor, who applauded the decision to authorize the sales. “We need the energy,” Governor Mead said. “We need the jobs that come with energy. We need the electricity.”

Ed. - Well OK then!

EDIT

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/federal-lands-in-wyoming-opened-to-coal-mining/

[villager]

1. Unrecc'd by the denialists, but that doesn't change the facts of things...

It was with the Salazar appointment that Obama lost me -- "Ah, business as usual," I realized then...