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The future of coal country: Landscape on the brink of change

Montana’s energy economy pits traditional industry against renewable opportunities with billions of tax dollars at stake.

The rise of renewable energy sources poses life-changing questions for Montana’s coal country. The town of Colstrip has a century’s dependence on coal production. The Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations also share the region’s Powder River Basin coal deposits. But those three communities face different directions as the energy economy reacts to billions of dollars in new federal investments for wind and solar generating projects, mine and pollution cleanup, job training and economic development. Around the world, coal ranks worst among energy sources for producing greenhouse gases that lead to disrupted rain and snow patterns, longer wildfire seasons and other impacts from global warming.

Part I of this four-part series takes readers across the landscape shared by the Northern Cheyenne, Crow and Colstrip residents who live above the United States’ largest coal reserve, and lays out the challenges and uncertainties entangled in envisioning a new energy economy.

Fossil Fuel Interests Ramp Up Their “Solar Makes Electricity More Expensive” Falsehood

In the run-up to Trump 2.0, the fossil fuel industry is trotting out its biggest guns to attack renewable energy and electric cars, which should come as no surprise. They paid to get him elected and now they want to make sure they get the maximum return on their investment.

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