Wyoming is planning to send a delegation to Washington State later this year to lobby on behalf of coal export terminals. Last year, the state invited members of eight Pacific Northwest tribes to visit Wyoming on an all-expenses paid tour of the region’s coal mines, but only one tribe accepted the invitation. Now, the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority is hoping to take the tour to them. According to Loyd Drain, the agency's director, WIA will host two meetings in Washington later this year in an effort to convince tribes that coal exports are a good thing.
“You know, sometimes they only hear one perspective," he said. "We just want them to have the facts, and then, you know, if I have all the facts, I make a better decision than if I just have one view.”
Dates haven’t been set for the meetings, but Drain says they will likely be in the first half of the year. The Infrastructure Authority is also planning to design a virtual tour of the state's coal mines to present at the meetings.