US to consider sharp hike in royalties on coal
BILLINGS, Mont. – Royalty rates on coal extracted from massive strip mines on public lands could increase 50 percent under a pending overhaul of a U.S. government program that critics say contributes to climate change, documents released Thursday show. The royalty hike was contained in an Interior Department notice providing the first outlines of a planned three-year evaluation of the government’s sale of coal from public lands,.