Coal
Coal Jobs Return To Wyoming
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Wyoming coal companies are rehiring workers in the Powder River Basin, bringing residents home and boosting local morale. Still there’s a lot of uncertainty for the state and the coal industry overall.
Audio
From Housekeepers To Railroad Conductors, Coal’s Crash Takes Its Toll
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The coal industry’s recent downturn is casting ripples throughout the economy in the West. In Wyoming, the unemployment rate is climbing faster than any other state in the country—and it’s not just miners who are struggling.
Arch Coal
Coal Communities Consider Life After Layoffs
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As the state’s energy booms go bust, Wyoming is facing the colossal task of having to replace some of its main economic drivers. It’s either that or learn to live with less.
Arch Coal
Layoffs Begin At Peabody And Arch Wyoming Mines
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The country’s two largest coal mines are each laying off roughly 15 percent of their employees. Peabody Energy and Arch Coal both announced the layoffs Thursday morning. The cuts will affect roughly 235 workers at Peabody’s North Antelope Rochelle mine and 230 at Arch’s Black Thunder mine.
Audio
Overburden Weighs On Wyoming Coal Producers
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How much coal does a Wyoming coal miner mine? Quite a bit less than he used to, it turns out. Regulations have received most of the blame for coal’s current downturn but that’s not the whole story; it’s also getting more expensive to mine in the nation’s largest coal producing state.
Video
Coal Country Fights Proposed Royalty Hike
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The American public owns coal. About 40 percent of the coal mined in the U.S. comes from federal lands in states like Wyoming and Montana — technically the property of the American people. Companies pay the government fees, called royalties, to mine coal from federal lands. But some say they don’t pay enough, and that taxpayers are getting shortchanged by millions of dollars every year. The Department of the Interior has proposed new regulations that would require coal companies to pay more.
Audio
Wyoming Town Built On Coal Contemplates Its Future
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While the coal industry in other parts of the country has fallen on hard times, the mines of the Powder River Basin, in Wyoming and Montana, have been left largely unscathed. Even with new regulations that could put a dent in coal production from the region, the towns that depend on it aren’t given up on their black gold anytime soon.
