Re: Aug. 5 editorial.
The Denver Post¶¶Ņõap editorial on coal mining is severely misinformed.
First, it asserts that denying the West Elk Mineās expansion may āstarveā power plants out of commission, when instead we must carefully plan transition from coal. But West Elk already has a decade of coal under lease, providing time for transition. West Elk sells much of its coal overseas, and none in Colorado last quarter, so limiting the expansion wouldnāt āstarveā local utilities.
Second, The Post¶¶Ņõap āfaith in state and federal agencies to adequately regulateā coal mining is misplaced. The Trump administration has eliminated rules protecting streams from coal waste, moved to gut limits on utilitiesā greenhouse pollutants, and repealed measures to ensure coal companies canāt short-change taxpayers of royalties. And while Colorado law limits methane waste from oil and gas operations, the state has done zero to regulate emissions from the stateās single largest methane polluter: West Elkās mine.
Ted Zukoski, Denver
The writer is staff attorney for Earthjustice.
Your editorial on the West Elk Mine misses the key policy issue. Arch Coal is asking for a significant public subsidy in the form of defiled lands, increased atmospheric methane, diminished recreational opportunities, and loss of scarce, valuable habitat.
What does the public receive? The company argues that it should not even pay its fair share of royalties due from past and future mining on public lands, so that mining jobs slated for phase-out are prolonged two years. But the company itself has been in and out of bankruptcy and now wants to milk significant subsidies from the public treasury. Why not use our public capital to help miners and transition them to jobs of the future?
The Forest Service, designated to protect public lands and the public interest, should reject Arch Coalās expansion, secure in the knowledge that it is serving the nation’s economic and environmental interests.
Timothy E. Wirth, Boulder
The writer is a former U.S. senator from Colorado and is vice chairman and president emeritus of the United Nations Foundation.
The editorial boardās false alarm that coal plants will āstarveā unless two Colorado mines expand into āpristine” forest deeply misunderstands the coal market, Economics 101, and climate change.
U.S. coal production — especially from leased public lands — largely drives the global coal market. As mine expansions increase coal supply, basic economics teaches that increased supply will decrease coal prices. Lower prices increase coal demand and combustion, thus emitting more harmful pollution and exacerbating climate change.
The resulting climate effects are not ādistant,ā as the editors claim. Two-thirds of economists believe climate change either already harms our economy or will within a decade. The federal government¶¶Ņõap latest leaked report confirms that weather extremes affecting agriculture, health and infrastructure āhave already become more frequentā — including negative impacts in the Colorado River basin and āvirtually certainā snowfall reductions.
Mine expansions may be a āwinā for coal companies but could be a devastating loss for Colorado.
Jason A. Schwartz, Denver
The writer is legal director for the Institute for Policy Integrity.
The Post¶¶Ņõap editorial employs a collection of contradictions in the cause of sound coal policy. The editorial board notes the need for state and local communities to work to limit venting or flaring large amounts of methane. Agreed. Methane should not be intentionally released and wasted. Period.
However, the board mistakenly claims climate change is a ādistantā threat. Visit the Western Slope to see evergreen forests decimated by insect infestations. Insects live longer because sustained winter cold is rare due to the rising temperatures accompanying climate change right now.
And the board naively affirms its faith in state and federal agencies to regulate the coal industry. In fact, the Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests are spending millions of dollars to āclimate-proofā the landscape while green-lighting the West Elk Mine expansion and accelerating climate change.
If we care about Coloradoās forests, we must end our coal addiction.
Steven R. Reed, Grand Junction
Submit a letter to the editor via or check out our for how to submit by e-mail or mail.
