While many are optimistic that a new administration will mean a boost in energy production and hope for a dying coal industry, there will be a lot of ground to make up. 2016 was not a good year for coal mining across the nation and western states were hit hard. A recent report out of Wyoming shows that the coal industry in that region is now below 300 million tons of coal, a 20 year record low. In 2016, Wyoming’s Powder River Basin produced 285.2 million tons. That area is considered the nation’s most productive coal mining area and it’s new low is telling of the industry’s condition. The Powder River Basin produced 293.4 million tons of coal in 1998. From 2015 to 2016 the area made its largest ever recorded drop in a single year, declining by 78.1 million tons.
