Despite the political and market forces arrayed against it, the coal industry is still clinging to life, pushing forward massive new mines, export terminals, railway lines, and power plants.
In a special report this week, Grist examines the struggling industry’s long game, including one company’s efforts to build a $700 million project on the Chuitna River in south-central Alaska. Here are seven other places where the American coal industry is trying to resuscitate itself at the expense of, well, the rest of us:
- Millennium Bulk Coal Terminal Longview, Washington
Even after major backer Arch Coal declared bankruptcy and dropped its stake in 2016, the $640 million export terminal won’t die.
- Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal Oakland, California
The city council and Gov. Jerry Brown oppose the $1.2 billion proposal, but developers are threatening legal action.
- Wishbone Hill Coal Mine Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska
The project had cleared most of its regulatory hurdles when members of the the nearby Chickaloon tribe filed a lawsuit.
- Coal Hollow Mine Kane County, Utah
A company with a history of cleanup violations wants an expansion that would double the mine’s annual output.
- Kayenta Mine Navajo County, Arizona
Located on reservation lands on Arizona’s Black Mesa, the Peabody-owned mine opened in 1973 but faces new opposition.
- Dos Republicas Mine Eagle Pass, Texas
Opened for business in November 2015, the mine on the U.S.-Mexico border threatens archaeological sites and burial grounds.
- Kemper County Energy Facility Kemper County, Mississippi
Mississippi’s $6.7 billion “clean coal” plant has been criticized as excessively expensive and too carbon-heavy, but officials say it could be operational by October.
Read our special report: Coal’s Last Gamble.
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