CODY — Don’t bite the hand that feeds you is a cliché that means simply that someone is unthankful or unappreciative.
About 250 representatives of the mining industry from coal to uranium gathered in Cody on Thursday for the Wyoming Mining Association’s annual meeting to discuss the pounding policy attacks coming out of Washington, D.C., that could one day kill off coal mining in the energy-rich Powder River Basin and effectively topple the region’s economy.
On Thursday, the buzz on the sidelines of the convention was generated by a different antagonist.
Some were discussing criticism leveled at coal producers who didn’t attend a public meeting of the board of commissioners of Campbell County two days earlier to discuss opposition to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposal to end future coal leasing on public lands in the PRB by 2041.
Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, said his trade group of mining companies began holding their annual meeting in Cody on the same day as the public hearing in Gillette. The scheduling conflict made it difficult to represent the industry in both places simultaneously.
“It’s a little unfair to imply the coal industry is not engaged,” Deti said. “The industry has been fully engaged at every level, not only in the BLM fights, but in a multitude of other federal actions aimed at killing the industry.”
The coal industry isn’t tepid in its fighting tactics, he said.
“We’re using every available tool at our disposal, and we’re all in this fight together,” Deti said.
The First Salvo
A rumor that the coal industry was fearful of attending Campbell County’s board of commissioners public hearing in Gillette, Wyoming, grew out of remarks delivered at the meeting by Commission Chairman Del Shelstad.
He was shocked to see that no one from the coal industry raised a hand to indicate their presence at the meeting when he asked if there were any coal representatives in the crowd of 30 people Tuesday.
“I think that’s a darn shame that the coal producers aren’t here fighting — if nothing else but for their employees to have a right to say, ‘We’re here fighting for your jobs,’” Shelstad said.
“They’re probably going to have a strategy that takes a little different approach than this, and I’m OK with that, but it’s really shameful that we can’t get them here to make a public comment and enter this fight with us,” he said.
In comments to Cowboy State Daily after the Tuesday meeting, Shelstad had even more pointed remarks for coal executives.
“If I was a mine manager, and if the company that I worked for said, ‘Hey, we’re dealing with this, and we’ll deal with it legally,’ I would say I want to attend this public meeting and I want to speak out against this for my employees,” Shelstad said. “These are people who look up to me and for me to be their leader every day, I should be doing just that, and if they’re not doing that, it’s tragic.”
Shelstad said that he anticipated industry representatives might not attend his hearing held at the Campbell County Administration Building in Gillette.
“They’re not here when things like this come up. And it shouldn’t be like that,” he said. “If just elected officials and regular community members are standing up, then the people who are actually making their living off of this should be standing up as well.”
About 250 representatives of the mining industry from coal to uranium gathered in Cody for the Wyoming Mining Association’s annual meeting to discuss the pounding attacks coming out of Washington, D.C., that could one day kill off coal mining in the energy-rich Powder River Basin and effectively topple the region’s economy. (Pat Maio, Cowboy State Daily) 
Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association in Washington, D.C., told attendees during a keynote address before the Wyoming Mining Association in Cody, where it was meeting for its annual convention, that there is growing frustration in the mining business over a disconnect between federal policies attacking coal, gas and oil industries and projections over future power demands and a diminishing supply for electricity coming from coal. “Lunch bucket Joe (Biden) should want to come to Wyoming to talk with miners about the impact of his policies,” Nolan told Cowboy State Daily. (Pat Maio, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Campbell County Board of Commissioners “need to understand, these guys at the association here and all the company representatives do a lot of stuff all over the country, all the time,” said Mike Nasi, an energy and environmental attorney with the law firm of Jackson Walker in Austin, Texas. “The timing was terrible for that public meeting (in Gillette), because this event has been planned for this week, for a long time.” (Pat Maio, Cowboy State Daily)
Bad Timing
Mike Nasi, an energy and environmental attorney with the law firm of Jackson Walker LLP in Austin, Texas, described the BLM rule, if implemented, as a “fatal blow” to Wyoming’s revenue sources.
The state has taken in more than $2 billion in severance taxes since 2019, and some level of frustration is beginning to grow in the state over the constant drum beat of proposed rulemaking coming out of the BLM and Environmental Protection Agency to kill off coal and other fuels like oil and gas.
“People are frustrated about having their futures put in jeopardy, and it’s all hands on deck,” Nasi told Cowboy State Daily on the sidelines of the convention meeting Thursday.
“They (the commissioners) need to understand, these guys at the association here and all the company representatives do a lot of stuff all over the country, all the time,” Nasi said. “The timing was terrible for that public meeting (in Gillette), because this event has been planned for this week, for a long time.”
“Under the circumstances with scheduling, I think it’s simply a conflict of when they were meeting and the timing of this convention,” said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association in Washington, D.C.
Nolan told attendees during a keynote address that there is growing frustration in the mining business over a disconnect between federal policies attacking coal, gas and oil industries and projections over future power demands and a diminishing supply for electricity coming from coal.
“There’s no place in America more important in mining than the great state of Wyoming,” Nolan said. “Demand for minerals and electricity is exploding nationwide. Under the current trajectory, we’re woefully unprepared to meet the demand.
“Lunch bucket Joe (Biden) should want to come to Wyoming to talk with miners about the impact of his policies.”
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
