Gillette speaks, hopes Washington, D.C., is listening

A loud, defiant voice rose from the Energy Capital of the Nation on Thursday afternoon with a simple message for Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell: Don’t burn the nation’s coal industry. Jewell has called for “an honest and open conversation” about updating federal coal lease program amid claims by some that undervalued leases and loopholes allow the industry to exploit the program and avoid paying a fair share to extract the mineral from federal lands. To put it bluntly, those who make those claims “don’t know what they’re talking about,” Kirby Eisenhauer said during a Gillette listening session to gather input into Jewell’s proposal to overhaul the federal coal program. The Campbell County School District associate superintendent received vigorous applause from the standing-room-only crowd in the Wyoming Room at the Campbell County Public Library. Eisenhauer continued to explain that he’s “offended” by the process so far. “I am offended by Sally Jewell (who said) that we need open and honest communication,” he said. That statement “insinuates something dishonest is going on here.” Thursday’s listening session is the third of five scheduled in Washington, D.C., and throughout the West. The BLM will gather more input in Denver on Tuesday and Aug. 20 in Farmington, New Mexico. While those attending the Gillette session expressed thanks to be able to have their voices heard, many also expressed frustration that their comments will fall on deaf ears, that an overhaul of the federal coal program is the next step in an Obama administration's war on coal...more