The U.S. government’s move this month to halt issuance of new coal mining leases on public lands as it reviews the federal coal program will eventually help make clean energy more cost-competitive, according to experts at Wharton and the Colorado School of Mines. It would achieve that by putting a price on coal mining to recover the social cost of carbon, they explained. The government’s announcement is set against the backdrop of multiple drivers: A growing global consensus that climate change is occurring and needs tackling, resulting in the United Nations’ Paris Agreement in December 2015; President Barack Obama’s desire to leave behind a legacy of promoting clean energy; a slew of bankruptcies in the coal mining industry; the rise of natural gas and renewable energy sources; and an increasingly challenging regulatory environment.…