WASHINGTON, D.C – Yesterday, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a 2022 ruling from a Montana judge which reinstated the Obama-Biden moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands.
“In 2016, the radical Obama-Biden Administration shut down coal mining on federal lands as part of their War on Coal. I’m pleased the Ninth Circuit U.S Court of Appeals has overturned the federal moratorium in a victory for American energy producers. Coal is an affordable, reliable power source, which supports hardworking West Virginia families,” said Congressman Alex X. Mooney.
In 2016, the Obama Administration Department of the Interior issued for the first time ever, a moratorium on all new coal leases on federal land. In 2017, the Trump Administration rescinded that order. In 2022, an activist District Court judge in Montana took it upon himself to reinstate the Obama-era policy, which has now been rightfully overturned by the Appeals Court.
