President Obama called for an overhaul of the nation’s energy system in his final State of the Union address.
Obama criticized climate change deniers in the speech, saying it’s time to stop debating and start innovating. He praised investments in wind and solar energy and called for moving away from “dirty” energy sources.
“And that’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet,” he said.
The President didn’t provide any specifics about what that means, but the remarks come as the Department of the Interior is reviewing the federal coal, oil, and gas programs.
Around 40 percent of the nation's coal comes from federal land, mostly from Western states like Wyoming.