Appalachian vulture capitalists invade Wyoming

In his 2017 book, Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia, historian Steven Stoll describes the dispossession and impoverishment of Appalachia’s self-sustaining agrarian society and the devastation of its landscapes by invasive non-resident extractive industries. That was in the last century, but recent events in Wyoming eerily reflect this sobering history.

One by one, our critical coal mining assets are being acquired by people with disreputable histories in Appalachia. Our miners, communities and lands are in danger of being impoverished by these operators and their schemes.

Wyoming’s Powder River Basin has produced the lion’s share of America’s thermal coal over recent decades. Revenues from federal coal leasing and state and county taxes on the industry have been a mainstay of Wyoming’s budget, funding education and other public services. At its peak, coal directly employed nearly 7,000 workers and the “coal economy” provided nearly 23,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs. Clearly, since the late 1970’s Wyoming’s coal economy has been a boon to her citizens.

The foundation of this economy was relatively few large, well-capitalized mining corporations that paid taxes and royalties, provided high wages, pensions and health care, and participated in the civic lives of the communities that grew around the mines.

Read more: https://www.wyofile.com/appalachian-vulture-capitalists-invade-wyoming/