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Judge revives Obama-era ban on coal sales from federal lands

The Associated Press · Matthew Brown · last updated

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge has reinstated a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama and then scuttled under former President Donald Trump. 

Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: coal

State of Play

The use of coal, a staple of heating and electricity-generation for decades, is in decline in the United States — supplanted by newly abundant production of natural gas — but is still dominant in some parts of the world. While economical, coal use is particularly problematic as international attention focuses increasingly on climate change.

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