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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2018)
A3 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2018 States cite climate worries in push to stop coal sales Washington is among the states By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — Four states that say burning coal will hurt their residents as it makes climate change worse are trying to stop the Trump administration from selling vast reserves of the fuel that are beneath public lands. Attorneys for California, New Mexico, New York and Washington argue the coal sales have been shortchang- ing taxpayers because of low royalty rates and cause pollu- tion that puts the climate and public health at risk. The states were joined by conservation groups and Montana’s Northern Chey- enne tribe in a lawsuit that seeks to revive a coal leasing moratorium imposed under President Barack Obama. The moratorium blocked new lease sales from federal lands that hold billions of tons of the fuel. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris is presiding over a hearing today on whether the moratorium should be reinstated. The Trump administration said in court fi lings that end- ing the moratorium last year was of critical importance to the economy. That claim comes despite the slow pace of lease sales in recent years and a precipitous drop in demand for the heavily pol- luting fuel. U.S. lands in Western states including Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Colorado Ryan Dorgan/The Casper Star-Tribune Rail cars are fi lled with coal and sprayed with a topper agent to suppress dust at Cloud Peak Energy’s Antelope Mine north of Douglas, Wyo., in 2014. are a major source of coal for mining companies. There are 7.4 billion tons of the fuel in roughly 300 leases adminis- tered by the Bureau of Land Management . Morris, who was appointed by Obama, recently ruled in a separate case that the administration must consider reducing coal mining in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Mon- tana to help combat climate change. The judge has played the role of spoiler to Trump on another Obama administra- tion policy reversal — the contentious Keystone XL oil sands pipeline from Canada. Trump approved the pipeline last year, but Morris blocked it temporarily in March. The judge said further environ- Legislature to weigh statewide tax on plastic bags, straw ban Associated Press SALEM — The Legis- lature will consider a state- wide tax on plastic bags and a ban on plastic straws. The Statesman Jour- nal reported a Senate com- mittee voted to introduce both legislative concepts, or preliminary bills, during an informational hearing Wednesday. Both bills would help reduce plastic waste that ends up in landfi lls and the environment. “From our perspective, nothing we use for 10 min- utes should pollute the envi- ronment for hundreds of years,” said Celeste Meif- fren-Swango, state director of Environment Oregon. One would impose a 5 cent per bag tax on sin- gle-use plastic bags used by retail stores selling food or alcohol, and require the establishments to provide paper checkout bags. The tax wouldn’t apply to meat and vegetable bags, or other noncheckout bags. And customers who use vouchers and state benefi t cards would be exempt. Money collected would go to the Oregon Depart- ment of Environmental Quality for a new Plas- tic Cleanup and Recycling Fund. Fourteen Oregon cit- ies have banned single-use plastic bags. The Legislature previ- ously considered banning plastic bags in 2010, 2011 and 2012. All three bills died in committee. This is the fi rst time a tax, rather than a ban, has been proposed. Because the bill would raise revenue, it would require a three-fi fths majority approval. Another measure would prohibit restaurants from providing single-use plas- tic straws to customers unless they request a straw. The proposal specifi - cally exempts straws made from sugar cane, pasta and some other natural ingredients. Violators could be fi ned up to $25 per day, with a cap of $300 per year. mental reviews were needed for the line to comply with federal laws. Some of those same laws are at the center of the coal moratorium dispute. Sweeping review The states and their allies want to push to stop further leasing and resume a sweep- ing review of the program’s environmental effects. Gov- ernment attorneys and the National Mining Association say the review started under Obama was a voluntary step and the Trump administra- tion is within its rights to end it. “We view this as a legal issue and believe this is an open-and-shut case,” said Conor Bernstein with the mining association, which has intervened in the case. Growing concerns over climate change have put a spotlight on the once-obscure coal leasing program, which has gone largely unchanged and not been through a major environmental review since 1979. Companies have mined about 4 billion tons of coal from federal reserves in the past decade, contributing $10 billion to federal and state coffers through royalties and other payments. The Obama administra- tion blocked the sale of new leases in 2016 out of con- cerns over climate-chang- ing greenhouse gases from burning coal and to review royalty rates paid by mining companies for federal coal. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke withdrew the morato- rium in March 2017. He said the Obama administration’s environmental review would cost “many millions of dol- lars,” and improvements to the program could be made without prolonged study. California Attorney Gen- eral Xavier Becerra said Zin- ke’s actions fl y in the face of a government report released last month that predicted dire consequences from climate change for the U.S. economy. “He ignored the law in opening the door to expanded coal leasing without taking a hard look at the environmen- tal consequences,” Becerra said in a statement. Shortchanging taxpayers Federal offi cials and members of Congress have said for years that royalty rates were shortchanging taxpayers. Under Obama, offi cials began considering raising rates, but it was not done. After the Trump admin- istration ended the mora- torium, Zinke appointed a committee to review roy- alty rates. Critics contend he has stacked the panel with industry-friendly represen- tatives interested in main- taining the status quo. Since January 2017, the government has sold leases for 134 million tons of coal on more than 13,000 acres of public land in six states, according to fi gures provided by the Interior Department. That’s a relatively small amount compared with pre- vious years, for example 2011 and 2012, when more than 2 billion tons were sold in Wyoming alone. Despite the slowdown in sales, the outcome of the court case could be pivotal to the industry’s long-term outlook and determine if it has access to a cheap and readily available supply of coal. For environmental- ists, it’s a question of mak- ing sure that coal is never burned to prevent carbon dioxide emissions tied to climate change. “The idea that they lease millions of acres of public lands every year to private companies so that they can extract the coal and we’ve never once studied the cli- mate impacts, that should bother people,” Sierra Club attorney Nathaniel Shoaff said. Federal judge dismisses more Millennium claims Latest in a series of setbacks By KATIE FAIRBANKS The Daily News LONGVIEW, Wash. — In a potentially fatal blow to the Longview coal proj- ect, a federal judge Tuesday upheld the state of Washing- ton’s denial of a key water quality permit for the $680 million export dock. Judge Robert Bryan of U.S. District Court in Tacoma dismissed claims by Lighthouse Resources and BNSF Railway that the permit denial pre-empted the Interstate Commerce Commission Termina- tion Act and the Ports and Waterways Safety Act. Bryan found the com- panies failed to prove that the federal acts should have barred the state Department of Ecology from denying the water permit. Millennium began the permitting process for the coal terminal in 2012. The state denied its application for a water quality certifi cate in September 2017, pointing to “signifi cant unavoidable adverse impacts” outlined in the fi nal environmen- tal impact assessment for the project. The state also 90! This Pretty Lady Just Turned Birthday Celebration Saturday • December 15 th • 1-4 pm 90480 Peter Johnson Rd • Astoria Happy Birthday Mom. From all of your family, Grandchildren, & Great Grandchildren. Glenna L. Leino said it didn’t have reason- able assurance that the ter- minal would meet applica- ble water quality standards. Lighthouse Resources sued Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration over the decision in January. Six coal-producing states — Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Kan- sas and Nebraska — inter- vened in the suit on behalf of Lighthouse and the rail- road, alleging that Washing- ton was blocking interstate commerce by blocking the project. Six other states — Cali- fornia, Maryland, New Jer- sey, New York, Massachu- setts and Oregon — entered the suit on behalf of the state Department of Ecology, saying the state has a right to regulate its environment. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Clatsop Post 12 Friday , Dec . 14 th Past Cmdr. “Tom ‘N’ Jerry Party Taco Salads • $ 6.00 4 PM until gone 6pm “Karaoke Dave” 4 PM gone Saturday until December 15 th “Holiday Dinner” Turkey with all the trimmings 3pm - ? Music by Greg parke FREE to all Veteran’s & Their Families Donations Welcome!!!!!!! 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