Amid a federal government shutdown, the Republican-held U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to open up Montana for more coal leasing by overturning land use restrictions implemented in 2024.

The resolution would overturn a Biden-era amendment to a Miles City-based resource management plan that halted new coal leases in Montana as part of a mission to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

“Montana energy is back,” Sen. Steve Daines said in a press release about the vote. “Biden’s Miles City RMPA was an anti-coal rule that stifled mining in Eastern Montana and would have cost many hard-working Montanans their jobs. Mining is a vital part of Montana, providing nearly a thousand well-paying jobs and contributing nearly $3 billion to our state’s economy.”

The 2024 Bureau of Land Managemen

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