Coal supporters, faced with grim future, pack public meeting to blast federal reforms

GILLETTE -- Coal supporters packed a public meeting here Thursday to voice strong opposition to a U.S. Department of Interior plan to reform the federal coal program, describing a proposal to raise royalty rates as an attack on this mining reliant community. How much the government charges for coal mined on public land is generally a mundane matter debated by bureaucrats. But, coming after the release last week of President Barack Obama's plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions by a third in 15 years, Thursday's proceedings served as an outlet for the raw emotions of coal country, where mining firms are struggling to navigate wider shifts in the energy market and an onslaught of new regulation. "Pardon me, please, if I seem nervous and uneasy, my livelihood does lay in the balance here," said JJ Mendoza, a plant operator at Cloud Peak Energy's Cordero Rojo mine, in comments before a panel of senior Interior Department officials. Solid wages earned as a miner helped him provide opportunity to his children, Mendoza said, before concluding, "I say no to a new electricity tax, our nation can't afford it. And yes to coal, our nation depends on it." In all, some 375 people packed the Campbell County Public Library, offering comments that lasted more than four hours...more