Guest Editorial: The market killed Campbell County coal long ago

Lost in the uproar over the impending death of coal in Campbell County is the reality of who the real killer is.

Of course, the Bureau of Land Management pursuing an end to new coal leases in the Powder River Basin amounts to an undeniable death blow should it get its way.

But if you were to solely listen to the folks who attended this week’s meeting with Campbell County Commissioners, you may overlook the context in which that seemingly extinction-level decision was made.

No new coal leases have sold in Campbell County since 2012 — more than a decade ago. That reality is in part due to extensive active leases, and years of dispute over an Obama-era halt of coal leasing. But it also aligns with the declining market for coal, which has trended downward since before the last lease was sold.

During the past decade and more of decline, coal companies have not clamored to claim new leases. Instead, they’ve pivoted their focus outside of the Powder River Basin.

Ignoring greater context is nothing new. The fight for coal, which has been waged steadily toward defeat for years, appears most feasible when isolated into one-on-one matchups.

It’s a fight between the state of Wyoming and the feds. It’s Campbell County against BLM.

Mix up any combination of those players — and sprinkle in whichever Democratic president is in office — and the fight seems real. It seems real, and it seems winnable.

It seems that way from the inside because it has to. Wyoming depends on coal, and it’s only right that its people fight to keep it alive.

If the fight can’t be won, and if coal’s long been dying and simply hasn’t turned blue, maybe it’s time to reposition that energy.

Just look at the coal companies that run these mines. They may not have wanted the market for coal to dive the way it has, but they also haven’t ignored the reality of its trajectory.

They responded to the market, like it or not, and found other ways to make money. Peabody Energy is years into a pivot toward metallurgical coal — used to make steel, rather than to burn for energy. Arch Resources has openly referred to its Campbell County operations as “cash harvesting,” which amounts to minimizing investment in the Powder River Basin to maximize margins during coal’s waning years.

Campbell County and state officials, if they’ve paid attention, have watched these companies slowly divest from these mines for years. How have they responded? Without a clear alternative in hand.

Coal companies found more ways to make money. What have the county and state done? Besides blame the federal government and powers that be who don’t listen to their cries.

To be clear, the Biden administration in particular has given Wyoming no reason to hold back its grievances. But what has voicing those frustrations amounted to besides shouts into the wind?

There’s clear political capital to gain within the state, and little sign of even being heard outside of it. No energy company has shored up its coal stockpiles because Joe Legislator took issue with Joe Biden.

This is not to be cynical about the demise of what Wyoming has made its bones on for decades. Rather, it’s a genuine question of what good have officials brought Wyoming by decrying federal officials and taking up one-sided fights that can’t be won?

There’s little dispute of the good coal has done for Wyoming. Even those unopposed to the energy industry’s turning tides have benefited from the windfall it brought the state.

Maybe it’s a matter of differentiating what’s good for coal from what’s good for Wyoming. For so long, those two have been in sync. In recent years, that’s been called into light.

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty more good for Wyoming to reap from its remaining years of coal. But it is a reason to transition the energy spent fighting for coal into an energy market with legs beyond the next decade.

If only Wyoming could sell the energy spent waging a war which, at this point, cannot be won. Short of that, it’s time to direct that energy toward solutions to Wyoming’s problem that the fight for coal has yet to solve.