This decision, after years of outcry from local residents and litigation, will protect communities, air, water, and the climate from the harms of mining and burning six billion tons of highly polluting coal. On May 16th, 2024, the Biden administration … Continued
Above: Coal ash at the generating plant in Colstrip, Montana, is kept in water-filled ponds. 91% of coal ash ponds around the U.S. leak into local aquifers contaminating groundwater. After pressure from WORC members and allies, the Environmental Protection Agency … Continued
Above: an “orange cloud,” toxic gasses sometimes created when blasting overburden in coal strip mines, drifts on the breeze, endangering communities downwind. WORC members living near coal mines applaud a decision by the Office of Surface Mining to again allow … Continued
New Forest Service proposal intends to allow companies to build dangerous carbon pipelines and injection sites on public lands for permanent storage of carbon dioxide. On December 22nd, 2023, WORC along with Dakota Resource Council (DRC), Northern Plains Resource Council … Continued
Montana rancher speaks describes how the current federal coal leasing program threatens western ranchers’ livelihoods and hurts other split-estate landowners.
Coal Country Communities Deserve Action for Federal Coal Program Issues In response to the Bureau of Land Management’s Federal Coal Program Review Comment Summary Report on the federal coal program review released in late December, WORC members are voicing the … Continued
This post was adapted from Dakota Resource Council’s blog. While funding for carbon capture and sequestration is being debated in Washington, the risky technology remains a bad deal for taxpayers and the climate. There has been much talk in the … Continued
The National Coal Council evaded accountability, skirted federal transparency law, and functioned as a self-dealing industry trade association during the Trump administration. *** Update 11/23/2021: The Department of Energy sent a letter to the National Coal Council announcing that they … Continued
Above: Workers assemble a wind turbine. Clean energy jobs are just one part of transitioning coal communities. Western Colorado Alliance is organizing around the many opportunities for coal communities and Colorado’s economy to transition away from fossil fuels. In 2019, … Continued
Greenwashing, corporate welfare, and bailouts are the themes of a flurry of coal bills in North Dakota’s 2021 Legislature. This story was adapted from Dakota Resource Council’s newsletter. A major theme of the 67th North Dakota Legislative Assembly was the … Continued