Effect on global economy

Via the Bureau of Land Management agency, federal government owns just over half of the coal reserves in the United States in surface land area, as well as additional reserves in mineral rights under the Mineral Leasing Act (4). This means that while a private land owner may have the deed to his/her land, the federal government may, at any time, invoke its right to lease the land to mining companies for extraction, due to the presence of mineral deposits in the bedrock. In a region where coal has been found, a mining establishment must first submit an application to the BLM with anticipated plans; then, if approved, the BLM will set a leasing price (4). If federally-owned lands are being leased, the price will be set at approximately $3 per acre annually; if privately-owned lands are being leased, the price will be set based on "fair market value" annually(4). In addition, the companies must pay royalties on the production value, between 8% and 12.5%, depending on the type of mining, underground or surface, respectively (4). Pricing for the public depends on several factors including transportation (encompassing about half of the market cost), energy content/quality, taxes, profit, and production costs, in addition to passing along the leasing fees to the consumer (4). Most of the market cost for coal is believed to be controlled entirely by distance from the mining operations to the major energy markets (4). Funding for these leasing and mining operations comes from large-scale banks loans from major banking entities like JPMorgan Chase, similar to the way homeowners acquire mortgages on the smaller-scale (6). Image (7).