Obama orders 'pause' on coal-mining leases

U.S. Interior Secretary,
Sally Jewell.

The Obama administration, in the first major review of the country’s coal program in three decades, on Friday ordered a pause on issuing coal-mining leases on federal land as part of new executive actions to fight climate change.

The halt could last three years, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told reporters, while officials determine how to protect taxpayers’ stake in coal sales from public lands and how burning coal could worsen climate change.

Read the story -  “As Coal Industry Teeters, Obama Halts Coal Leasing.”