Coal remains king in the Cowboy State

Coal Trends talked with Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association,
about the past and future of the Wyoming Mining Association.

Cheyenne is not just Wyoming’s capitol city and the state’s most populous location, it is also home to the headquarters of the Wyoming Coal Association (WMA), established in 1956. Its leadership includes Deti as well as Pat Joyce, Assistant Director; and Heidi Peterson, Membership and Retention.

Coal Trends: Tell us more about the association and its ranks.

Deti: WMA is a statewide trade organization that represents and advocates for 35 mining company members producing bentonite, coal, trona (natural soda ash), uranium, and lignite, as well as companies developing gold, lithium, copper, and rare earth element and critical mineral deposits. WMA also represents over 100 associate member (service and supply) companies, one electricity co-op, and two advanced nuclear power companies.

What are the top worries for your membership?
Over-regulation of the industry, taxation, the future workforce.

What opportunities are the greatest for your member organizations? The fact that America and the world need the raw materials for everyday life. The opportunity to provide these is our greatest opportunity.

Can the U.S. coal industry as a collective improve our view from the general public?
Yes. The industry has strong support at home in Wyoming, but we need to continue to work collaboratively with our fellow organizations in other states to build and maintain support nationally.

Politically, what would you like to see happen to improve the industry?
We need to continue to work on technology that will allow us to continue to use our vast coal resources for American energy production. Whether this is emission control technology, or building the next generation of low emission coal power plants, we need to continue to invest in these in order to keep the industry viable into the future.

What other trends are on your radar?
With the incoming Trump Administration we are optimistic about a return to common sense on the value of using our coal resources to power our country. Federal regulatory overreach is strangling the industry for political reasons. We hope for that with the new administration, decided different sets of priorities will ease this and return us to an environment of affordable and reliable energy from coal generation.

How is coal important to the future of energy and life?
Wyoming is the nation’s leading coal producer, and coal means jobs and revenue. It is the backbone of the Wyoming economy and our way of life.