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I n his final State of the Union address, President Barack Obama continued to show little respect for coal operators and those who produce inexpensive electricity from coal. He mocked them by saying that wind power is now cheaper than dirtier, conventional power (coal). Before trying to take credit for lower gasoline prices, which he has only influenced by a lack of foreign leadership, he said the solar business now "employs more Americans than coal — in jobs that pay better than average." The latter is certainly true, as new laws from the Environmental Protection Agency have wiped out tens of thousands of really good-paying jobs. The commander in chief is now doubling down. "Now we've got to accelerate the transition away from old, dirtier energy sources," Obama said. "Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future — especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. We do them no favor when we don't show them where the trends are going. That's why I'm going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpay- ers and our planet." It didn't take long for the Obama administration to show the coal business where the trends were going. Three days later, Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Sally Jewell launched a comprehensive review of the federal coal program to identify and eval- uate potential reforms to "ensure that it is properly structured to provide a fair return to taxpayers and reflect its impacts on the environment, while continuing to help meet our energy needs." The DOI will also institute "a pause" on issuing new coal leases while the review is under way. The pause does not apply to existing coal production activi- ties. "Given serious concerns raised about the federal coal program, we're taking the prudent step to hit pause on approving significant new leases so that decisions about those leases can benefit from the recommendations that come out of the review," said Secretary Jewell. She also announced that the DOI would undertake a series of reforms to improve transparency and administration of the federal coal program. The full review is expected to take approximately three years. National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Hal Quinn responded quickly to DOI's extraordinary action to halt federal coal leasing. "The Obama administration's move to shut off the largest source of America's lowest cost and most reliable fuel for electricity opens up another front in its 'Beyond Jobs' cam- paign," Quinn said. "The idea that future coal leasing requires a pause to evaluate environmental impacts defies credulity. Every federal coal lease sale and subse- quent mining project must pass multiple levels and sequences of both federal and state evaluation. It is stunning that the administration believes a process that already pushes the development of coal projects beyond a decade needs more red tape and delays." The administration will now trade more well-paying jobs in the West as it has in the East for a few above-average jobs installing wind mills and solar panels. All of this is a veiled effort to increase electricity prices to make renewable programs look justifiable. The reality is that coal and common sense will stand in the way. Coal Age, Volume 121, Issue 1, (ISSN 1040-7820) is published monthly by Mining Media Inc., 10 Sedgwick Drive, Englewood, Colorado 80113 (mining-media.com). Periodicals postage paid at Englewood, CO, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40845540. Canada return address: Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor ON N9A 6J5, Email: circulation@mining-media.com. Current and back issues and additional resources, including subscription request forms and an editorial calendar, are available online at www.coalage.com. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Free and controlled circulation to qualified subscribers. Non-qualified persons may subscribe at the following rates: USA and Canada, 1 year, $56.00, 2 year, $96.00, 3 year, $162.00, Student, $16.00, Outside the USA and Canada, 1 year, $77.00, 2 year, $137.00, 3 year, $225.00 surface mail (1 year, $145.00, 2 year, $257.00 airmail delivery). For subscriber services or to order single copies, write to Coal Age, 8751 East Hampden, Suite B1, Denver, CO 80231 USA; call +1.303.283.0640 (USA) or visit www.mining-media.com. 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P hone: +1.303.283.0640 F ax: +1.303.283.0641 P resident/Publisher—Peter Johnson, pjohnson@mining-media.com Vice President of Sales & Marketing—John Bold, jbold@mining-media.com Midwest/Eastern U.S. & Canada, Sales—Victor Matteucci, vmatteucci@mining-media.com Western U.S. & Canada, Sales—Mary Lu Buse, mlbuse@mining-media.com Scandinavia, UK and European Sales—Colm Barry, colm.barry@telia.com G ermany, Austria & Switzerland Sales—Gerd Strasmann, info@strasmann-media.de Australia/Asia Sales—Lanita Idrus, lanita@mining-media.com Japan Sales—Masao Ishiguro, ishiguro@irm.jp Indonesia Sales—Dimas Abdillah, dabdillah@mining-media.com Latin America Sales—Paulina Downey, paulina@downeyassociates.cl / Sylvia Palma, sylvia@downeyassociates.cl Classified Advertising—Kirk Carbo, kcarbo@mining-media.com Show Manager—Tim Fearney, tim@semcoproductions.com Production Manager—Dan Fitts, dfitts@mining-media.com BY STEVE FISCOR / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DOI Puts Coal Leases on Hold e d i t o r ' s n o t e 2 www.coalage.com Steve Fiscor, Coal Age Editor-in-Chief sfiscor@mining-media.com E d i t o r - i n - C h i e f — S t e v e F i s c o r , s f i s c o r @ m i n i n g - m e d i a . c o m W e s t e r n F i e l d E d i t o r — R u s s C a r t e r , r c a r t e r @ m i n i n g - m e d i a . c o m F i e l d E d i t o r — D o n n a S c h m i d t , d s c h m i d t @ m i n i n g - m e d i a . c o m E u r o p e a n E d i t o r — S i m o n W a l k e r , s i m o n . i e t s @ b t i n t e r n e t . c o m L a t i n A m e r i c a n E d i t o r — O s c a r M a r t i n e z , o m a r t i n e z @ m i n i n g - m e d i a . c o m A s s i s t a n t E d i t o r — J e n n i f e r J e n s e n , j j e n s e n @ m i n i n g - m e d i a . c o m G r a p h i c D e s i g n e r — A u s t i n S t . C l a i r , a s t c l a i r @ m i n i n g - m e d i a . c o m