Arch Coal, in a bid to shed 4.5 BILLION in debt, files for bankruptcy

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2. "Yet one thing that will certainly suffer is the company’s ability to meet its obligations to

reclaim land despoiled by mining. As Arch Coal begins the bankruptcy process, regulators and elected officials must do more to guarantee taxpayers are not left holding the bag for hundreds of millions of dollars in clean-up costs at Arch’s coal mines, which have scarred the landscape, damaged critical watersheds and added to the carbon pollution problems the administration is working hard to address.

Now is the time to reform America’s coal program. We need to align our nation’s long-term energy supply decisions with our climate objectives. And that means managing our federal lands—held in the public trust—to prioritize clean energy, not opening new areas to more fossil fuel extraction that digs the carbon hold deeper while degrading our natural heritage."