For Additional Information:
John Grasser (202) 463-2651
Karen Batra (202) 463-2651

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2001

AS DEMAND FOR COAL RISES, ROADLESS RULE PUTS RESERVES OUT OF REACH IMPACTS WILL HIT HARDEST IN CALIFORNIA AND OTHER WESTERN STATES

Washington -- "Millions of tons of high-quality coal and thousands of well-paying jobs are being jeopardized by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule," said a mining industry spokesman in testimony given today before the Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Greg Schaefer, director of external affairs for St. Louis-based Arch Coal, testified on behalf of the National Mining Association, and the Colorado, Utah and Wyoming Mining Associations and explained how this rule will only exacerbate an-already fragile situation in California and in other Western states.

"One-fifth of California's electricity supply comes from coal-generated power plants in the Rocky Mountain area. These plants generate power with coal from mines that are either on, or immediately adjacent to the new roadless areas in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, " Schaefer said.

The Forest Service's roadless proposal will affect 38 states and calls for nearly a third of all the forest land (nearly 59 million acres) owned by the federal government to be designated "off limits" to road building, economic development and public access. That is in addition to 46 million acres already designated wilderness areas by act of Congress. The rule has come under fire from natural resources industries for ignoring our nation's impending energy crisis, while destroying the jobs and the economies that support America's rural western communities.

Schaefer cited specific examples in Colorado, a state producing between 25 and 30 million tons of low sulfur coal annually. Colorado's underground mines employ about 700 people in rural areas, with an annual payroll of $50 million.

"At one mine, approximately 200 million tons of high quality coal would be put off limits by the roadless restriction (roughly a 35-40 year supply of coal), and the mine would be forced to close prematurely. Another operation estimates that this rule would make 50 million tons inaccessible at their mine," Schaefer said. "The agency's own Environmental Impact Statement reports that this rule could cause a shortage of coal over the next 20-30 years," Schaefer added. Currently, over half of America's electricity is generated from coal.

Schaefer also testified at an April 4 hearing on this rule before the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee and the Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee of the House Resources Committee.

At that hearing, Schaefer also pointed out the myriad of existing environmental protection measures already in place that already provide the same protections the roadless rules is supposed to create.

"The Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and most notably the Wilderness Act, already protects the values this roadless rule claims to defend," said Schaefer. "Despite the countless environmental laws already in place, this directive prohibits recovery of energy and mineral resources in these areas and will shut down many industry operations, costing America hundreds of million of dollars in economic benefit and thousands of high-paying jobs."

More than half of America’s electricity is generated from coal. Coal is our nation's most abundant energy resource, accounting for more than 90 percent of all fossil energy reserves and representing a secure supply for the next 250 years. On average, coal-based power is less than one-half the cost of power from oil, and at current prices, coal power is about one-fifth the cost of power from natural gas. Modern technologies have made coal-based generation increasingly clean.