Coal Mining

The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing in mid-June about coal leasing on federal lands.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration issued 335 violations in April at 20 mines across 15 states. Mines in the Mountain West accounted for 83 of the violations, 17 of which were considered "significant and substantial."

The complaint filed in Gunnison County District Court contends that Colorado state officials failed to approve or deny an air pollution permit required by the U.S. government within the 18 months allotted by state law.

Craig, a small town in northwest Colorado, is losing its coal plant, and residents fear it is the beginning of the end for their community. The same scenario is playing out in other small towns across the U.S. After decades of relying on coal for their workforce, tax base and way of life, the towns face uncertain futures as new state and national legislation forces the retirement of fossil fuels because of the worsening effects of human-caused climate change.

Bill Gates' company TerraPower and the utility Rocky Mountain Power have picked the Wyoming coal town of Kemmerer as the location for a $4 billion, electricity-generating nuclear reactor. Optimism is high but the technology's unproven.

When Blondie's Diner closes around 9 p.m. and a table of hunters finish their green chili cheeseburgers and head back to their hotel, the town of Naturita…

It's a good day when Tammie Delaney hears a train rumbling down the tracks outside of the century-old granary building she owns in Hayden."Oh, you get the…

U.S. senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that promises to protect the pensions for 92,000 retired coal miners and secure 13,000 miners'...

At two of the world's biggest coal mines, the finances got so bad that their owner couldn't even get toilet paper on credit.Warehouse technician Melissa…

For the first time in years, Delta County in western Colorado is experiencing population growth, one indicator that rural Americans are increasingly feeling optimistic about their economic future.