Coal Zoom | U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Geological Survey - Our Story

November 3, 2024 - The Organic Act of 1879 established the USGS and directed it to “examine the geological structure, mineral resources, and products within and outside the national domain.” Included in these “products” were energy resources like coal and petroleum. At the time, the country was heavily reliant on coal, while petroleum was a young but quickly growing industry.

Indeed, when USGS published the first summary of mineral resources in 1882, the report opened with a chapter about coal. “It is a somewhat trite but true statement that coal is the most important of all mineral substances…and the principal mineral product of the United States”, the report said, “Appropriately, therefore, the discussion of coal statistics forms… the leading chapter of this report.”

The report also included a chapter about the emerging petroleum industry of the United States, an industry that had begun just 30 years earlier, when the first commercial oil rig was constructed in Pennsylvania.

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An Evolving Energy Landscape

As technology has advanced and energy needs have changed, the USGS has been called upon to study an increasingly broad portfolio of energy resources.

Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, the USGS provided information about where known and potential coal and petroleum resources might be – resources that fueled a growing nation. The Energy Resources Program remains the primary source for impartial information about coal and petroleum resources, including the feasibility of extracting resources.

In the 1950s, as excitement over the potential for nuclear energy grew, the USGS began studying uranium. In the 1970s, in response to growing concerns about the environmental impact and potential shortages of coal, the USGS turned its attention to geothermal energy resources. In the 2000s, to address energy security questions, the USGS ramped up efforts to assess renewable energy resources such as wind and solar, and unconventional oil and gas resources, such as gas hydrates.

Most recently, the Energy Resources Program has incorporated other emerging and potential low-carbon resources into its research, including geologic hydrogen. The Energy Resources Program is also at the forefront of studying the potential for storing energy and carbon dioxide in geologic formations, as well as recovering minerals from energy wastes.

Building on a Long Legacy

Today, the Energy Resources Program carries on this long and diverse legacy by continuing to inform decisions about how best to use the resources that lie below our feet.

Our long record of researching diverse energy resources gives us a strong foundation for understanding geologic processes of many kinds, and a unique perspective on how natural resources interact.

The kinds of geologic energy resources that we study continues to change and grow as America’s energy needs evolve. Our science is also responding to the urgent need to understand how energy development has impacted other natural resources in the past, and how it may in the future.

As it has in the past, our science will continue to help the Nation make complex decisions about how to keep itself sustainably powered and prosperous.

Our activities are authorized and guided by the following legislation:

43 U.S.C. 31 | The Organic Act of March 3, 1879

An act that established the Geological Survey, as amended (1962); and restated in annual appropriation acts. This section provides, among others, that the Geological Survey is directed to classify the public lands and examine the geological structure, mineral resources, and products within and outside the national domain. This section also establishes the Office of the Director of the Geological Survey, under the Interior Department. The Director is appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. P.L. 102-285 Sec. 10(a) establishes United States Geological Survey as its official name.

30 U.S.C. 1101, 1121, 1123 | Geothermal Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1974.

Provides that the Department of the Interior is responsible for the evaluation and assessment of the geothermal resource base and the development of exploration technologies. The USGS and other appropriate agencies, develop and carry out a plan for the inventorying of all forms of geothermal resources of Federal lands; conduct regional surveys; publish and make available maps, reports, and other documents developed from the surveys; and participate with non-Federal entities in research to develop, improve, and test technologies for the discovery and evaluation of geothermal resources.

30 U.S.C. 201 | Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976.

Provides that no lease sale may be held on Federal lands unless the lands containing the coal deposits have been included in a comprehensive land-use plan. Provides that the Secretary is authorized and directed to conduct a comprehensive exploratory program designed to obtain sufficient data and information to evaluate the extent, location, and potential for developing the known recoverable coal resources within the coal lands. The USGS provides data and information from coal research and field investigations, which are useful to the BLM to meet the requirements of the coal leasing program. Further, the Secretary, (Sec. 208–1(b)) through the USGS, "... is authorized to conduct seismic, geophysical, geochemical, or stratigraphic drilling, or to contract for or purchase the results of such exploratory activities from commercial or other sources which may be needed to implement the ..." exploratory program.

The?Energy Policy and Conservation Act?of 1975 (EPCA) (P.L. 94–163, 89?Stat.?871, enacted December?22, 1975)

The Act responded to the 1973 oil crisis by creating a comprehensive approach to federal energy policy. The primary goals of EPCA are to increase energy production and supply, reduce energy demand, provide energy efficiency, and give the executive branch additional powers to respond to disruptions in energy supply. Most notably, EPCA established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products, and Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations.

30 U.S.C. 1028 | Energy Policy Act of 1992.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the USGS and in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, to establish a cooperative government private sector program with respect to hot dry rock geothermal energy resources on public lands. Supports recurring assessments of the undiscovered oil and gas resources of the United States.

42 U.S.C. 6217 | Energy Act of 2000.

The Act instructs the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy, to conduct and regularly update an inventory of all onshore Federal lands. The inventory will identify (1) USGS reserve estimates of the oil and gas resources underlying these lands, (2) restrictions or impediments to development of such resources, and (3) furnish such inventory data to the House Committee on Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Authorizes appropriations as necessary for implementation.

Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58)

Sets forth an energy research and development program covering: (1) energy efficiency; (2) renewable energy; (3) oil and gas; (4) coal; (5) Indian energy; (6) nuclear matters; (7) vehicles and fuels, including ethanol; (8) hydrogen; (9) electricity; (10) energy tax incentives; (11) hydropower and geothermal energy; and (12) climate change technology.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 also includes amendments to the Energy Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C.6217). Specifically, Section 364 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires:

The Secretary of Energy to make periodic assessments of economically recoverable resources accounting for a range of parameters such as current costs, commodity prices, technology, and regulations using the inventory (See the description of the inventory in the section above, 42 U.S.C. 6217 Energy Act of 2000).
The Secretary of the Interior, use the same assessment methodology across all geological provinces, areas, and regions in preparing and issuing national geological assessments to ensure accurate comparisons of geological resources.

Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260, enacted 12/27/2020)

Sets forth in Section 623 an update to Geothermal Resource Assessments directing the Secretary of the Interior through the United States Geological Survey to update the 2008 United States geothermal resource assessment carried out by the United States Geological Survey, and to the maximum extent practicable include assessments for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the States of Alaska and Hawaii. Specifically, it directs the USGS to improve the resolution of resource potential at systematic temperatures and depths, to quantify the total potential to co-produce geothermal energy and minerals, to incorporate data relevant to underground thermal energy storage and exchange, and to produce high resolutions map that indicate key subsurface parameters for electric and direct use resources as well as induced seismicity.