President Donald Trump signed Montana lawmakers’ bill to unleash mining in the state on Thursday, demolishing a Biden-era plan that held the coal-rich region hostage.
Sponsored by Montana Republican Reps. Troy Downing and Ryan Zinke as well as Republican Montana Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, the resolution nixes the Biden-era Miles City Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA), which blocked coal development across almost two million acres in Montana and shut down future coal leasing in the Powder River Basin. More than 40% of America’s coal came from the Powder River Basin in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, though the Biden administration effectively blocked future coal leasing in the key region following a legal battle with local green groups.
Daines’ office told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the resolution has garnered widespread support, including from Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte.
“Today marks a massive win for both Montana and the nation. Biden’s disastrous Miles City RMPA was an anti-coal rule that would’ve blocked future coal leasing on two million acres of land, stifled job growth and caused the loss of over $4.3 billion in future revenue to our state,” Daines told the DCNF. “But now, thanks to the hard work of our Montana delegation, Biden’s rule is repealed and Montana energy is back. Thank you President Trump for fighting for Made-In-Montana energy and for protecting America’s energy dominance.”
The lawmakers introduced the legislation in July, and the resolution then passed the House in September and the Senate in October.
“Now more than ever, America needs affordable, reliable energy to fuel our new golden age. With the signing of my bill to permanently roll back burdensome restrictions on coal leasing for the nation’s largest deposit, we aren’t just meeting the demands of today, we’re ensuring that we can power our country’s future,” Downing told the DCNF. “We are also making sure that subsequent administrations cannot undo the good work of the current one, safeguarding American energy independence. I look forward to seeing this legislation bring revenue and jobs back to the Treasure State.”
Now that Trump signed the resolution into law, coal development in the Basin can move forward at a time when U.S. energy demand is projected to outpace supply. America is set to use record amounts of power, according to the Energy Information Administration. The Department of Energy projected in a July report that blackouts could increase by a factor of 100 by 2030 if the U.S. continues to phase out reliable power sources without adequate replacements.
A new report from the Institute for Energy Research and Always on Energy Research shows Democrat-led states generally have higher electricity costs than red states as many of them have adopted aggressive green mandates phasing out coal and blocking pipelines. Former President Joe Biden vowed to shut coal “plants down all across America” and enacted strict rules on power plants that grid experts warned would jeopardize U.S. reliability. Trump, though, has moved to bolster coal development.
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