COLSTRIP, Mont. (AP) — President’s Actions Joe Bidenadministration that could accelerate the closure of highly polluting areas coal plants and the mines that supply them are reviving Republican rhetoric about a so-called “war on coal” ahead of the November elections.
The front line in the political battle over fuel is in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, a sparsely populated section of the Great Plains with the largest coal mines in the country. It is also home to a huge power plant in Colstrip, Montanawhich emits more toxic air pollutants, such as lead and arsenic, than any other facility of its kind in the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA last month finalized a set of rules that could force the Colstrip Generating Station to close or spend about $400 million to clean up its emissions in the coming years. Another proposal, from the US Department of the Interior, would be end new lease of taxpayer-owned coal reserves in the Powder River Basin, clouding the future of mines, including Westmoreland Mining’s Rosebud mine, which supplies about 6 million tons of fuel annually to Colstrip.
Eight years ago, during his first run for the White House, donald trump fueled populist anger against government regulation, highlighting anti-coal measures taken under former President Barack Obama. The latest anti-coal measures have once again raised the issue for Republicans seeking to unseat Biden in the November election. Some coal state Democrats also have concerns.
“This onslaught of new rules will kill jobs and will kill communities like Colstrip,” Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines said during a visit to the Rosebud mine this week with Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte. “What will change this result is an election and a new administration.”
Coal consumption in the USA fell precipitously over the past decade as cheap natural gas and renewables expanded. However, coal’s political potency endures as detractors try to further reduce the burning of the fuel that is a major contributor to climate change and air pollution.
It continues to be an economic pillar in communities like Colstrip, providing jobs where workers can earn $100,000 annually, according to union leaders.
The Biden administration has defended the latest coal restrictions as necessary to reduce harmful pollutants, improve public health and resolve legal rulings on climate change.
A Biden campaign representative noted that the decline of coal continued during Trump’s presidency.
“There is no war on coal, there is just a fight for our energy future,” said campaign spokesman James Singer. “Under President Biden, the United States is closer to energy independence than we have been in decades.”
Even with the ban on new coal leases, companies already hold leases on more than 4 billion tons of coal on land owned by taxpayers. And government officials say that’s enough to sustain mining for decades.
Advocates said the crackdown on pollution from coal plants was long overdue. Its origins date back to the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, which directed the EPA to establish standards for pollution-reduction technologies.
Robert Merchant, a pulmonologist in Billings, Montana, said the research data makes it clear that pollution caused by Colstrip and other plants is linked to medical problems, including cancer, developmental delays in children and heart attacks.
“The problem with Colstrip or any big industry like that is they are very good at understanding the economy as it affects their balance sheets and bottom line,” Merchant said.
Representatives of the Northern Cheyenne tribe have urged the Biden administration to adopt pollution rules to protect air quality on their reservation south of Colstrip.
The factory opened in the mid-1970s and was later expanded. It towers over Colstrip, a town of around 2,000 inhabitants. It is connected to the Rosebud mine by miles of conveyor belts that carry a steady supply of coal to the 1,480-megawatt plant, where it is burned to generate electricity for distribution throughout the state.
Brian Bird, president of Colstrip, co-owner of NorthWestern Energy, said EPA Administrator Michael Regan’s characterization of Colstrip during Congressional hearings as the “nation’s largest emitter” was misleading because of the size of the plant – one of the largest coal plants west of the Mississippi River. Bird said Colstrip was “in the middle of the pack” in terms of the amount of pollution per megawatt of power generated.
Some prominent Democrats say federal agencies are moving too quickly and too aggressively against coal.
Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester said the EPA rules “missed the mark” as it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars for Colstrip to come into compliance. In West Virginia — the second-largest coal producer behind Wyoming — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin accused Biden of trying to “score short-term political points” by issuing the new rules in an election year.
The tester is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate before the elections, with Republicans needing just two seats to regain control of the chamber.
His Republican opponent, Tim Sheehy, railed against the “Biden Tester climate cult” following the announcement of a ban on new coal leases. Tester spokesman Eli Cousin said the legislature was still reviewing the administration’s proposal.
Manchin will not seek re-election when his term ends in January. Republican Governor Jim Justice is running for the seat, and EPA rules could help push voters toward his corner as he faces Democrat Glenn Elliott, the mayor of Wheeling, West Virginia.
Elliott advocated for more green energy in West Virginia but did not comment on the EPA rules.
EPA officials pledged to work with the owners of the Colstrip plant “to help them find a path forward” in response to concerns raised by Tester and other lawmakers. Agency officials said 93% of coal-fired plants demonstrated they could meet new air pollution standards.
“We have given factories the maximum time to meet the standards we are allowed under the Clean Air Act – three years plus the possibility of a one-year extension,” EPA spokeswoman Shayla Powell said in a statement.
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Associated Press reporters Matthew Daly in Washington and Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this story.
