Opportunity Costs of Federal Land‐use Restrictions for U.S. Coal Markets

Abstract

U.S. federal government land‐use restrictions limit access to high‐quality, low‐cost coal on federal lands in the western U.S. The main purpose of these limits is to protect the environment. A substantial amount of U.S. coal resources has been set aside, about 67 billion tons, which represents 27% of total U.S. surface‐minable coal. Debate has focused on the environmental benefits attained by the land‐use restrictions; little effort has gone into the explicit quantification of opportunity costs. To help fill that gap, this analysis examines the long‐term effects that these restrictions could have on the national cost of meeting future coal demands, including impacts on regional patterns of coal availability and production.