People from all over the state gathered in Gillette Thursday to weigh in on a controversial new proposal to update the federal coal program.
The Bureau of Land Management says it wants make sure that American taxpayers are getting a fair return on coal mined on federal lands. The goal of the meeting was to collect information on how to do that. It's because federal coal is a resource that is owned by the public, and recent studies suggest coal companies may be paying less in royalties than what’s required. The Department of the Interior says they have proposed updates because the rules are just outdated but many in Wyoming see this as just another part of the war on coal. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson was at the meeting in Gillette and joined Wyoming Public Radio's Caroline Ballard to discuss what went down.