The Republican Megabill’s Big Coal Handouts

Congress is still debating the Republican budget reconciliation bill. Its official title is the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” but some like House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman have said it should more accurately be called “the most destructive environmental bill in American history.”

Rep. Huffman is right: this is bill would irreparably harm public lands and outdoor spaces, cripple the clean energy economy, and create a pay to pollute scheme for industry to get around our environmental laws and judicial review. But one part of the bill that you may not have heard enough about is its provisions to boost coal industry profits at the expense of communities, the environment, and the climate.

Coal is Not Dead — Yet

Coal development is still causing significant harm. Nearly half of all the coal produced in the United States — around 250 million tons — comes from national public lands. When our public lands are leased to coal companies, that land often cannot be used for recreation, cultural practices, or any other use. Some ranchers, for example, have seen their ways of life upended by mining companies who have degraded public lands, dewatered springs, and canceled their grazing leases.

After mining, coal is sent to coal-fired power plants where it is combusted to produce energy. Coal-fired power plants are one of the biggest contributors to climate change because they emit more carbon dioxide per unit of energy than any other major fuel source. At the same time as they pollute our climate, coal-fired power plants also pollute fenceline communities by emitting harmful levels of mercury and other air toxics into the air they breathe. And generating electricity from coal also comes at significant cost to ratepayers: one study found that 80% of existing U.S. coal plants are already more expensive than local renewable resources or are expected to retire by the end of this year.

Finally, after coal is combusted to produce electricity, coal companies often dump the waste product known as coal ash into unlined landfills that leak toxic metals into our groundwater. From the mine to smokestack to waste dump, coal is still a significant threat to public lands, public health, and the climate.

It is true that progress has been made towards reducing the stranglehold the coal industry once had on our energy supply. But while domestic demand for coal has decreased in recent years, a recent International Energy Agency report found that the global demand for coal actually reached an all-time high in 2024 and is projected to continue to increase through 2027. Furthermore, recent actions from the Trump administration threaten to halt or even temporarily reverse efforts to reduce our use of coal, whether it is by forcing uneconomic coal plants to continue operating or directing the foreign policy apparatus of the United States to promote coal exports to other countries. Unfortunately, congressional Republicans are attempting to double down on giveaways to Big Coal, rather than transitioning away from this and other dirty fuel sources.

Congressional Republicans’ Plans for 21st Century Coal Baron Handouts

Several sections of the reconciliation bill released by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee on June 11 seek to boost coal industry profits at the expense of everyone else. One section directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to offer at least four million acres of public land to coal companies to develop into mines. That’s ten times more than the total amount of public land currently leased for coal mining. Furthermore, the bill would also mandate BLM approve every single application for a federal coal lease within just 90 days – rushing crucial environmental analyses, limiting public engagement, and stripping career civil servants of the discretion to choose not to lease public lands to coal companies for any number of reasons. Combined, these two sections could enable a wave of speculative coal leasing on our public lands and force federal land managers to rubber stamp Big Coal’s pet mining projects. 

Another portion of the bill would provide a direct handout to Big Coal on the backs of taxpayers by reducing the royalty rate coal companies pay back to the American people for the value of the coal that they extract from public lands. While the current royalty rate that coal companies pay varies based on the type of coal mine they operate and other factors, the bottom line is that some mines would see their royalty rate cut nearly in half under this bill – from 12.5% to just 7%. This would effectively subsidize big corporations’ coal mining operations while reducing revenue for federal programs as well as state budgets that fund public schools and colleges, highway and road construction, and city and town budgets. 

Finally, the reconciliation bill seeks to permit a massive expansion of one Montana coal mine for the sole benefit of one criminal mining company. The Bull Mountains mine, its owners, and senior executives have a lengthy history of violating worker safety, environmental, and anti-corruption laws, as documented in a New York Times exposé. The Trump administration has already approved a 50-million-ton expansion of the mine under the guise of an “energy emergency,” despite the fact that 98% of the coal is exported to other countries. Expanding this mine even further would not only harm the local environment, it would be a massive carbon bomb. Although the Senate bill does not explicitly name the Bull Mountains mine, one provision would mandate DOI approve any mine that meets certain criteria which the Bull Mountains mine just so happens to fit perfectly.  

Big Coal Handouts are Bad Policy — and Bad Politics

Why are congressional Republicans attempting to jam these sweeping pro-coal provisions through the obscure budget reconciliation process anyways? It might have something to do with the fact that coal is not just toxic to our health and the environment — it is toxic politically.

According to a 2024 Pew Research Center study, coal is the single most unpopular source of energy in the United States: 61% of Americans oppose more coal mining in our country, more than the number of respondents who oppose fracking, nuclear power, or any other form of energy development. Americans who live in the west, where almost all federal coal mining occurs, are particularly opposed. Just 7% of western voters named coal as one of the top two energy sources that they want to see encouraged in their state in the 2022 Conservation in the West Poll (the last poll to ask that question). Since massive handouts to Big Coal could never pass on their own, Republicans in Congress are hiding these giveaways deep in the reconciliation bill and hoping that their voters will not find out.

Just Say No to Coal

Leasing more of our public lands to coal companies and padding their bottom lines will do nothing to promote energy security or reduce costs for everyday Americans. Nor will they revive the struggling coal industry. Instead, these provisions will lead to environmental destruction, increased pollution in already overburdened communities, and reduced funding for federal, state, and local programs. It’s time for Congress to stop giving handouts to Big Coal and instead support communities and workers through the transition away from coal, restore our lands and waters, and combat the climate crisis with urgency.