The Trump administration has fast-tracked yet another mine, this time a sprawling surface coal mine in Tennessee on private land that The Nature Conservancy oversees and is trying to protect.
The Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on Tuesday announced it has approved Hurricane Creek Mining’s proposal to build an open-pit coal mine on Bryson Mountain in Claiborne County, Tennessee. The agency said it did so using an expedited permitting process in response to President Donald Trump’s declaration of an energy emergency.
“We’re not just issuing permits — we’re supporting communities, securing supply chains for critical industries, and making sure the U.S. stays competitive in a changing global energy landscape,” Adam Suess, the agency’s acting assistant secretary for land and minerals management, said in a statement.
Interior earlier this year used the same process to sign off on a uranium mine in Utah after just 11 days of review, drawing pushback from environmental groups. The administration has also signed off on coal mines in Montana, and Republican Sen. Steve Daines at a hearing on the Hill today said he’s expecting the government too soon approve permits for the Rosebud mine in the northern Powder River Basin near Colstrip.
