No bids for Wyo. federal coal tract a first

Allison Roberts News

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — For the first time, nobody has bid on a federal coal tract offered for sale in Wyoming after the company that initially sought to mine the location determined that it couldn’t do so profitably. Read the full story here.

In the Northwest, rising coal exports to Asia stir huge fight

Allison Roberts News

DECKER, Mont. — At Spring Creek Mine, a broad black seam of coal, reaching depths of 80 feet, runs like a subterranean river through arid, sagebrush-covered hills. This is a world-class seam formed from the remnants of ferns, grasses and other plants that flourished here more than 50 million years ago, when this part of Montana was a humid marsh. Read …

In Montana, ranchers line up against coal

Allison Roberts News

COLSTRIP, Mont. — Out in these windy stretches of cottonwood and prairie grass, not far from where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer ran into problems at Little Bighorn, a new battle is unfolding over what future energy development in the West will look like. Here, rancher Wallace McRae and his son, Clint, run cattle on 31,000 acres along Rosebud Creek, …

Coal miners protest at Arch Coal meeting in Wyoming

Allison Roberts News

WRIGHT, Wyo. — About 20 coal miners from all over the country descended upon a small coal town in northeast Wyoming on Thursday. Active and retired miners — together under the United Mine Workers of America banner — gathered in front of the Wright Hotel shortly after 7 a.m. The group, an assembly of workers from across the Appalachian region …

Huffington Post

State should deny coal project permits to protect the Columbia River Gorge: Guest opinion

Allison Roberts News

As elected officials in the Columbia River Gorge, we are frequently asked to weigh in on projects that affect our local quality of life. Few, however, present such potentially adverse economic and environmental effects as the continuing expansion of coal shipments. Only a few trains currently transport coal through the gorge, and already we’re seeing the damage caused by coal …

Stop the Coal Trains

Allison Roberts News

You might have heard the talk: Coal interests are pushing to make the Pacific Northwest a 24-hour conveyor belt linking coal mines in Montana and Wyoming with Asian markets clamoring for cheap, dirty power. The most urgent fight is currently taking place just north of Bellingham at Cherry Point, the site of a proposed coal-export terminal that would be the …

A Look at the Full Costs of Coal Export Terminals in WA and OR

Allison Roberts News

Six different coal terminals are being proposed in the Pacific Northwest, from north of Bellingham to Grays Harbor to Coos Bay. The companies proposing the terminals hope to capitalize on the ever-increasing energy demands of China and India. Establishing terminals on the West Coast would potentially help expedite the process of getting coal that’s mined in Montana and Wyoming into …