COLSTRIP, Mont. — Actions by President Joe Biden’s administration that could hasten the shutdown of heavily polluting coal plants and the mines that supply them are reviving Republican rhetoric about a so-called “war on coal” ahead of the November election.
The front lines in the political battle over the fuel are in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, a sparsely populated part of the Great Plains with the nation’s largest coal mines. It is also home to a massive power plant in Colstrip, Montana, which emits more toxic air pollutants such as lead and arsenic than any other U.S. factory of its kind, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA last month finalized a set of rules that could force the Colstrip Generating Station to close in coming years or spend an estimated $400 million to clean up emissions. Another proposal, from the U.S. Department of the Interior, would end new leasing of taxpayer-owned coal reserves in the Powder River Basin, risking the future of mines including Westmoreland Mining’s Rosebud Mine, which annually supplies approximately 6 million tons of fuel to Colstrip is obscured.
Eight years ago, Donald Trump, during his first presidency in the White House, stoked populist anger against government regulation by highlighting anti-coal measures taken under former President Barack Obama. The latest moves against coal have once again sharpened the issue for Republicans who want to dethrone Biden in the November elections. Some coal state Democrats also have concerns.
“This onslaught of new regulations will kill jobs and kill communities like Colstrip,” Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana said this week during a visit to the Rosebud Mine with Republican Governor Greg Gianforte. “What will change this outcome are elections and a new government.”
U.S. coal consumption has fallen dramatically over the past decade as cheap natural gas and renewables have increased. Still, coal’s political potential remains as opponents seek to further curb combustion of the fuel that contributes significantly to climate change and air pollution.
Union officials say it remains an economic mainstay in communities like Colstrip, generating jobs where workers can earn $100,000 annually.
The Biden administration defended the latest restrictions on coal as necessary to reduce harmful pollutants, improve public health and address court rulings on climate change.
A Biden campaign representative noted that coal’s decline continued during Trump’s presidency.
“There is no war on coal, there is only a fight for our energy future,” campaign spokesman James Singer said. “Under President Biden, the United States has come closer to energy independence than we have been in decades.”
Even with the ban on new coal leases, companies already have leases for more than 4 billion tons of coal on taxpayer-owned lands. And officials say that’s enough to sustain mining for decades.
Advocates said the crackdown on pollution from coal-fired power plants is long overdue. Its origins date back to amendments to the 1990 Clean Air Act, which directed the EPA to set standards for pollution reduction technologies.
Dr. Robert Merchant, a pulmonologist from Billings, Montana, said research data clearly shows that pollution from Colstrip and other plants is linked to medical problems, including cancer, developmental delays in children and heart attacks.
“The problem with Colstrip or any major industry is that they are very good at understanding the economy as it affects their balance sheets and bottom lines,” Merchant said. “Unfortunately, the health impacts are not reflected in their bottom line.”
Representatives of the Northern Cheyenne tribe had urged the Biden administration to adopt pollution rules to protect air quality on their reservation just south of Colstrip.
The factory opened in the mid-1970s and was later expanded. It towers over Colstrip, a town of about 2,000 inhabitants. It is connected to the Rosebud Mine by miles of conveyor belts that transport 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, chairman of NorthWestern Energy, which co-owns Colstrip, said EPA Administrator Michael Regan’s characterization of Colstrip during congressional hearings as the “nation’s largest emitter” was misleading because of the plant’s size – a of the largest coal-fired power plants west of the US. the Mississippi River Bird said Colstrip was “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 aggressively against coal.
Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana said the EPA rules “miss the point” because it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars for Colstrip to come into compliance. In West Virginia — the second-largest coal producer after Wyoming — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin accused Biden of “scoring short-term political points” by issuing the new rules in an election year.
Tester is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate heading into the election, with Republicans needing to win just two seats to retake control of the chamber.
His Republican challenger, Tim Sheehy, railed against the “Biden Tester climate cult” after announcing the ban on new coal leases. Tester spokesman Eli Cousin said lawmakers were still reviewing the administration’s proposal.
Manchin will not seek re-election when his term expires in January. Republican Gov. Jim Justice is running for the seat, and EPA rules could help push voters into his corner when he faces Democrat Glenn Elliott, the mayor of Wheeling, West Virginia.
Elliott has advocated for more green energy in West Virginia, but has not commented on 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 power plants had shown they could meet the new air pollution standards.
“We have given plants the maximum time to meet the standards allowed under the Clean Air Act – three years plus the possibility of a one-year extension,” EPA spokesperson 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.