West Elk Royalty Rate Reduction

RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post/AP Photo

Gunnison County's public lands, waters, communities, and climate took a direct hit with the Biden administration's recent approval of royalty relief for the West Elk coal mine - a move that flies in the face of the administration's own climate agenda. In the midst of crippling regional drought and heat, the decision is a slap in the face. In January 2020, the BLM received a royalty rate reduction application from Mountain Coal Company for its coal leases at the West Elk mine in Gunnison County. Aware of the Biden administration’s policy precluding subsidies to fossil fuels, HCCA wrote a letter that was joined by the Sierra Club, Wilderness Workshop, WildEarth Guardians, and Center for Biological Diversity imploring BLM to ensure consistency with its own policy direction by denying the royalty reduction request. "Subsidizing coal mines through ongoing royalty relief directly contributes to the climate crisis, contradicting this administration's policy," our letter stated.

Despite this clear direction, and advocacy from the conservation community, the Biden administration quietly approved the company's royalty relief at two coal mines, including the West Elk mine just on the other side of Kebler Pass from Crested Butte. This inexplicable move from the administration has received significant media attention lately, including in today's Huffington Post (The Biden Administration Won’t Explain Its Handout To Big Coal | HuffPost).

We're obviously disappointed here at HCCA, especially because this is something we'd expect under the previous administration. One week after being sworn in, President Biden signed a sweeping executive order aimed at "tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad." It included seemingly clear language about ending subsidies for the industry most responsible for global warming.

You can read our letter at this link.

With friends like these ....