Victory for Taxpayers on Coal

The Interior Department is halting new coal leases on federal land, while it undertakes an in-depth review of the coal leasing program for the first time in 30 years, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced today.

POGO has urged the Interior Department to update its outdated coal rules since last year.

"If the administration follows through with efforts to reform the outdated federal coal program to ensure transparency, it will be a win for American taxpayers," POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian said. "Public lands belong to the American people and they deserve a fair share of coal revenue from these areas. They also have a right to know how the federal coal program is administered, which has been far too opaque for far too long."

Read our April 2015 report for an analysis of how these loopholes mean coal companies can cheat taxpayers out of millions of dollars, or check out our brief infographic explaining the federal coal program (left).