csmonitor--2020-08-21--Removed mailboxes and sorting machines? Senators question DeJoy.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy , pressed by senators over mail delivery disruptions , said Friday he was unaware of changes that sparked a public uproar , but his responses raised fresh questions about how the Postal Service will ensure timely delivery of ballots for the November election .
Mr. DeJoy told senators he has zero plans to restore blue mailboxes and sorting equipment that have been removed , saying they are `` not needed . ''
He did say that election mail would continue to be prioritized for delivery as in years past .
But while Mr. DeJoy distanced himself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail-in ballots that are expected to surge in the coronavirus pandemic , he told senators he could not yet provide a detailed plan about how he will ensure on-time election mail delivery .
Mr. DeJoy promised the Postal Service `` is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation 's election mail securely and on-time . ''
He said that was his `` No .
1 priority between now and Election Day . ''
`` I think the American people should be able to vote by mail , '' Mr. DeJoy testified .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ donor and ally who took the job in June , has faced a public outcry over changes and delivery delays .
Democrats warn his cost-cutting initiatives are causing an upheaval that threatens the election .
They peppered him with questions about the Trump administration 's push to starve the Postal Service of funds to process ballots for November .
Mr. Trump had said he wants to block agency funds to make it harder for the Postal Service to handle the expected surge of mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 crisis .
Mr. DeJoy flatly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with White House officials .
He said he had `` no idea '' equipment was being removed until the public outcry .
Democrats asked Mr. DeJoy to explain the rationale behind the changes and pressed him on how , exactly , he would ensure election mail and ballots would arrive on time .
`` Do you have a more detailed plan ? ''
demanded Sen. Maggie Hassan , D-N.H. , asking for it by Sunday .
`` I do n't think we 'll have a complete plan by Sunday night , '' Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being formed .
Grilled by Sen. Jacky Rosen , D-Nev. , Mr. DeJoy acknowledged he did no studies of how the changes he was making would impact seniors , veterans , and working families .
`` Is there any analysis ? ''
she demanded .
He said his analysis showed delivery would be improved .
The top Democrat on the panel , Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan , said Mr. DeJoy owed the nation an `` apology '' for the widespread mail disruptions since he took over the service .
Republican Sen. Ron @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Governmental Affairs Committee , defended the postmaster and dismissed the Democratic claims of election `` sabotage . ''
`` So this is n't some devious plot on your part , '' Mr. Johnson said .
The hearing was held remotely as Congress is on recess and lawmakers have been conducting much of their business during the coronavirus outbreak in virtual settings .
The outcry over mail delays and warnings of political interference have put the Postal Service at the center of the nation 's tumultuous election year , with Americans rallying around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more popular institutions .
With mounting pressure , Mr. DeJoy abruptly reversed course this week , vowing to postpone any further changes until after the election , saying he wanted to avoid even the `` perception '' of any interference .
Blue mailboxes were being removed , back-of-shop sorting equipment shutdown , and overtime hours kept in check .
Meanwhile , attorneys general in Pennsylvania , California , Delaware , Maine , Massachusetts , North Carolina , and Washington D.C. , filed another lawsuit on Friday , alleging the postmaster bypassed regulators and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintain an efficient system of collection , sorting , and delivery of the mail nationwide . ''
House Democrats are pushing ahead with a rare Saturday session to pass legislation that would prohibit the actions and send $ 25 billion to shore up postal operations .
Some 20 states , along with voting rights advocates , have sued to reverse the changes .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is eyeing a $ 10 billion postal rescue as part of the next COVID-19 relief package .
The White House has said it would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a broader virus aid package .
The Postal Service is struggling financially under a decline in mail volume , rising costs from the coronavirus pandemic , and a rare and some say cumbersome congressional requirement to fund in advance its retiree health care benefits .
For many , the Postal Service provides a lifeline , sending not just cards and letters , but delivering prescription drugs , financial statements , and other items that are especially needed by mail during the pandemic .
The postal service board of governors , appointed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ May to take the job .
A GOP donor , he previously owned a logistics business that was a longtime Postal Service contractor .
He maintains significant financial stakes in companies that do business or compete with the agency , raising conflict of interest questions .
In a statement , the Postal Service said Mr. DeJoy has made all required financial disclosures but that he might have to divest some holdings if conflicts arise .
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin , whose role in postal operations is being questioned by Senate Democrats , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chuck Schumer that he had no hand in `` recruiting or suggesting '' Mr. DeJoy for the job .
`` In fact , I was surprised to learn that Mr. DeJoy was a candidate for the position , '' Mr. Mnuchin wrote in a letter late Thursday to Mr. Schumer .
David C. Williams , the former vice chairman of the U.S .
Postal Service Board of Governors , on Thursday told lawmakers that he resigned from the board , in part , over Mr. DeJoy 's selection , and because he believed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to turn the independent agency into a `` political tool . ''
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
Christina Cassidy in Atlanta and Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort , Ky. , contributed to this report .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, pressed by senators over mail delivery disruptions, said Friday he was unaware of changes that sparked a public uproar, but his responses raised fresh questions about how the Postal Service will ensure timely delivery of ballots for the November election.
Mr. DeJoy told senators he has zero plans to restore blue mailboxes and sorting equipment that have been removed, saying they are "not needed." He did say that election mail would continue to be prioritized for delivery as in years past.
But while Mr. DeJoy distanced himself from President Donald Trump's complaints about mail-in ballots that are expected to surge in the coronavirus pandemic, he told senators he could not yet provide a detailed plan about how he will ensure on-time election mail delivery.
Mr. DeJoy promised the Postal Service "is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation's election mail securely and on-time."
He said that was his "No. 1 priority between now and Election Day."
"I think the American people should be able to vote by mail," Mr. DeJoy testified.
The new postmaster general, a Trump donor and ally who took the job in June, has faced a public outcry over changes and delivery delays. Democrats warn his cost-cutting initiatives are causing an upheaval that threatens the election.
They peppered him with questions about the Trump administration's push to starve the Postal Service of funds to process ballots for November. Mr. Trump had said he wants to block agency funds to make it harder for the Postal Service to handle the expected surge of mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 crisis.
Mr. DeJoy flatly told senators he has had few conversations with White House officials.
He said he had "no idea" equipment was being removed until the public outcry. Democrats asked Mr. DeJoy to explain the rationale behind the changes and pressed him on how, exactly, he would ensure election mail and ballots would arrive on time.
"Do you have a more detailed plan?" demanded Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asking for it by Sunday.
"I don't think we'll have a complete plan by Sunday night," Mr. DeJoy replied, acknowledging it was just being formed.
Grilled by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Mr. DeJoy acknowledged he did no studies of how the changes he was making would impact seniors, veterans, and working families.
"Is there any analysis?" she demanded.
He said his analysis showed delivery would be improved.
The top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, said Mr. DeJoy owed the nation an "apology" for the widespread mail disruptions since he took over the service.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, defended the postmaster and dismissed the Democratic claims of election "sabotage."
"So this isn't some devious plot on your part," Mr. Johnson said.
The hearing was held remotely as Congress is on recess and lawmakers have been conducting much of their business during the coronavirus outbreak in virtual settings.
The outcry over mail delays and warnings of political interference have put the Postal Service at the center of the nation's tumultuous election year, with Americans rallying around one of the nation's oldest and more popular institutions.
With mounting pressure, Mr. DeJoy abruptly reversed course this week, vowing to postpone any further changes until after the election, saying he wanted to avoid even the "perception" of any interference. Blue mailboxes were being removed, back-of-shop sorting equipment shutdown, and overtime hours kept in check.
Meanwhile, attorneys general in Pennsylvania, California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Washington D.C., filed another lawsuit on Friday, alleging the postmaster bypassed regulators and violated rules requiring that the agency "maintain an efficient system of collection, sorting, and delivery of the mail nationwide."
House Democrats are pushing ahead with a rare Saturday session to pass legislation that would prohibit the actions and send $25 billion to shore up postal operations. Some 20 states, along with voting rights advocates, have sued to reverse the changes.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is eyeing a $10 billion postal rescue as part of the next COVID-19 relief package. The White House has said it would be open to more postal funding as part of a broader virus aid package.
The Postal Service is struggling financially under a decline in mail volume, rising costs from the coronavirus pandemic, and a rare and some say cumbersome congressional requirement to fund in advance its retiree health care benefits.
For many, the Postal Service provides a lifeline, sending not just cards and letters, but delivering prescription drugs, financial statements, and other items that are especially needed by mail during the pandemic.
The postal service board of governors, appointed by Mr. Trump, selected Mr. DeJoy in May to take the job. A GOP donor, he previously owned a logistics business that was a longtime Postal Service contractor. He maintains significant financial stakes in companies that do business or compete with the agency, raising conflict of interest questions.
In a statement, the Postal Service said Mr. DeJoy has made all required financial disclosures but that he might have to divest some holdings if conflicts arise.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whose role in postal operations is being questioned by Senate Democrats, said in a letter to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer that he had no hand in "recruiting or suggesting" Mr. DeJoy for the job.
"In fact, I was surprised to learn that Mr. DeJoy was a candidate for the position," Mr. Mnuchin wrote in a letter late Thursday to Mr. Schumer.
David C. Williams, the former vice chairman of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, on Thursday told lawmakers that he resigned from the board, in part, over Mr. DeJoy's selection, and because he believed the White House was taking extraordinary steps to turn the independent agency into a "political tool."
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. Christina Cassidy in Atlanta and Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Ky., contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-08-21--DNC finale: Biden vows to unify America as 'ally of the light'

Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination with a vow to be a unifying `` ally of the light '' who would move an America in crisis past the chaos of President Donald Trump 's tenure .
In his strongest remarks of the campaign , Mr. Biden spoke Thursday night both of returning the United States to its traditional leadership role in the world and of the deeply personal challenges that shaped his life .
Virtually every sentence of his 22-minute speech was designed to present a sharp , yet hopeful , contrast with the Republican incumbent .
`` Here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : If you entrust me with the presidency , I will draw on the best of us , not the worst .
l 'll be an ally of the light , not the darkness , '' Mr. Biden said .
`` Make no mistake , united we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America . ''
For Mr. Biden , the final night of the Democratic National Convention was bittersweet .
He accepted a nomination that had eluded him for over three decades because of personal tragedy , political stumbles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But the coronavirus denied him the typical celebration , complete with the customary balloon drop that both parties often use to fete their new nominees .
Instead , Mr. Biden spoke to a largely empty arena near his Delaware home .
Afterward , fireworks lit the sky outside the arena , where supporters waited in a parking lot , honking horns and flashing headlights in a moment that finally lent a jovial feel to the event .
The keynote address was the speech of a lifetime for Mr. Biden , at age @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever elected if he defeats Mr. Trump in November .
Mr. Trump , who is 74 , publicly doubts Mr. Biden 's mental capacity and calls him `` Slow Joe , '' but with the nation watching , Mr. Biden was firm and clear .
Still , the convention leaned on a younger generation earlier in the night to help energize his sprawling coalition .
Tammy Duckworth , an Illinois senator who lost her legs in Iraq and is raising two young children , said Mr. Biden has `` common decency . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ American senator in U.S. history , said Mr. Biden believes in the dignity of all working Americans .
And Pete Buttigieg , former South Bend , Indiana , mayor and a gay military veteran , noted that Mr. Biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage as vice president even before President Barack Obama .
`` Joe Biden is right , this is a contest for the soul of the nation .
And to me that contest is not between good Americans and evil Americans , '' Mr. Buttigieg said .
`` It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is good for every American . ''
Above all , Mr. Biden focused on uniting the nation as Americans grapple with the long and fearful health crisis , the related economic devastation , a national awakening on racial justice – and Mr. Trump , who stirs heated emotions from all sides .
Mr. Biden 's positive focus Thursday night marked a break from the dire warnings offered by Mr. Obama and others the night before .
The 44th president of the United States warned that American democracy itself could falter if Mr. Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ running mate , Kamala Harris , a California senator and daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants , warned that Americans ' lives and livelihoods were at risk .
Mr. Biden 's Democratic Party has sought this week to put forward a cohesive vision of values and policy priorities , highlighting efforts to combat climate change , tighten gun laws , and embrace a humane immigration policy .
They have drawn a sharp contrast with Mr. Trump 's policies and personality , portraying him as cruel , self-centered , and woefully unprepared to manage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crises and policy challenges .
Vice President Mike Pence , interviewed Friday on several morning talk shows , criticized Democrats as presenting `` a very grim picture of the United States '' and said the Republican National Convention next week will focus on what Mr. Trump has accomplished , including the economy and his coronavirus response .
Voting was another prime focus of the convention on Thursday as it has been all week .
Democrats fear that the pandemic – and Trump administration changes at the U.S .
Postal Service – may make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in person or by mail .
Comedian Sarah Cooper , a favorite of many Democrats for her videos lip syncing Mr. Trump 's speeches , put it bluntly : `` Donald Trump does n't want any of us to vote because he knows he ca n't win fair and square . ''
Mr. Biden 's call for unity comes as some strategists worry that Democrats can not retake the White House simply by tearing Mr. Trump down , that Mr. Biden needs to give his sprawling coalition something to vote for .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ modern Democratic Party made up of disparate factions that span generation , race , and ideology .
Though he has been in the public spotlight for decades as a Delaware senator , much of the electorate knows little about Mr. Biden 's background before he began serving as Obama 's vice president in 2008 .
Thursday 's convention served as a national reintroduction of sorts that drew on some of the most painful moments of his life .
`` I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose . ''
As a schoolboy , Mr. Biden was mocked by classmates and a nun for a severe stutter .
He became a widower at just 30 after losing his wife and infant daughter to a car accident .
And just five years ago , he buried his eldest son .
From such hardship , Mr. Biden developed a deep sense of empathy that has defined much of his political career .
And throughout the convention , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ empathy , backed by decades of governing experience , makes him the perfect candidate to guide the nation back from mounting health and economic crises .
His allies Thursday included Brayden Harrington , a young boy from Concord , New Hampshire .
The boy said he and Mr. Biden were `` members of the same club , '' each with a stutter they 're working to overcome .
He noted that Mr. Biden told him about a book of poems he liked to read aloud to practice his speech and showed the boy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 're easier to read aloud .
`` I 'm just a regular kid , and in a short amount of time , Joe Biden made me more confident about a thing that 's bothered me my whole life , '' Brayden Harrington said .
The end of the carefully scripted convention now gives way to a far less-predictable period for Mr. Biden and his Democratic Party as the 2020 election season speeds to its uncertain conclusion .
While Election Day is n't until Nov. 3 , early voting gets underway in several battleground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden has maintained a polling advantage over Mr. Trump for much of the year , but it remains to be seen whether the Democratic nominee 's approach to politics and policy will genuinely excite the coalition he 's courting in an era of uncompromising partisanship .
Mr. Biden summed up his view of the campaign : `` We choose a path of becoming angry , less hopeful , and more divided , a path of shadow and suspicion , or we can choose a different path and together take this chance to heal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Associated Press .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination with a vow to be a unifying "ally of the light" who would move an America in crisis past the chaos of President Donald Trump's tenure.
In his strongest remarks of the campaign, Mr. Biden spoke Thursday night both of returning the United States to its traditional leadership role in the world and of the deeply personal challenges that shaped his life. Virtually every sentence of his 22-minute speech was designed to present a sharp, yet hopeful, contrast with the Republican incumbent.
"Here and now I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. l'll be an ally of the light, not the darkness," Mr. Biden said. "Make no mistake, united we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America."
For Mr. Biden, the final night of the Democratic National Convention was bittersweet. He accepted a nomination that had eluded him for over three decades because of personal tragedy, political stumbles, and rivals who proved more dynamic.
But the coronavirus denied him the typical celebration, complete with the customary balloon drop that both parties often use to fete their new nominees. Instead, Mr. Biden spoke to a largely empty arena near his Delaware home.
Afterward, fireworks lit the sky outside the arena, where supporters waited in a parking lot, honking horns and flashing headlights in a moment that finally lent a jovial feel to the event.
The keynote address was the speech of a lifetime for Mr. Biden, at age 77, would be the oldest president ever elected if he defeats Mr. Trump in November. Mr. Trump, who is 74, publicly doubts Mr. Biden's mental capacity and calls him "Slow Joe," but with the nation watching, Mr. Biden was firm and clear.
Still, the convention leaned on a younger generation earlier in the night to help energize his sprawling coalition.
Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois senator who lost her legs in Iraq and is raising two young children, said Mr. Biden has "common decency."
Cory Booker, only the ninth African American senator in U.S. history, said Mr. Biden believes in the dignity of all working Americans.
And Pete Buttigieg, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and a gay military veteran, noted that Mr. Biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage as vice president even before President Barack Obama.
"Joe Biden is right, this is a contest for the soul of the nation. And to me that contest is not between good Americans and evil Americans," Mr. Buttigieg said. "It's the struggle to call out what is good for every American."
Above all, Mr. Biden focused on uniting the nation as Americans grapple with the long and fearful health crisis, the related economic devastation, a national awakening on racial justice – and Mr. Trump, who stirs heated emotions from all sides.
Mr. Biden's positive focus Thursday night marked a break from the dire warnings offered by Mr. Obama and others the night before. The 44th president of the United States warned that American democracy itself could falter if Mr. Trump is reelected, while Mr. Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, a California senator and daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, warned that Americans' lives and livelihoods were at risk.
Mr. Biden's Democratic Party has sought this week to put forward a cohesive vision of values and policy priorities, highlighting efforts to combat climate change, tighten gun laws, and embrace a humane immigration policy. They have drawn a sharp contrast with Mr. Trump's policies and personality, portraying him as cruel, self-centered, and woefully unprepared to manage virtually any of the nation's mounting crises and policy challenges.
Vice President Mike Pence, interviewed Friday on several morning talk shows, criticized Democrats as presenting "a very grim picture of the United States" and said the Republican National Convention next week will focus on what Mr. Trump has accomplished, including the economy and his coronavirus response.
Voting was another prime focus of the convention on Thursday as it has been all week. Democrats fear that the pandemic – and Trump administration changes at the U.S. Postal Service – may make it difficult for voters to cast ballots in person or by mail.
Comedian Sarah Cooper, a favorite of many Democrats for her videos lip syncing Mr. Trump's speeches, put it bluntly: "Donald Trump doesn't want any of us to vote because he knows he can't win fair and square."
Mr. Biden's call for unity comes as some strategists worry that Democrats cannot retake the White House simply by tearing Mr. Trump down, that Mr. Biden needs to give his sprawling coalition something to vote for. That's easier said than done in a modern Democratic Party made up of disparate factions that span generation, race, and ideology.
Though he has been in the public spotlight for decades as a Delaware senator, much of the electorate knows little about Mr. Biden's background before he began serving as Obama's vice president in 2008.
Thursday's convention served as a national reintroduction of sorts that drew on some of the most painful moments of his life.
"I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes," Mr. Biden said. He added: "I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose."
As a schoolboy, Mr. Biden was mocked by classmates and a nun for a severe stutter. He became a widower at just 30 after losing his wife and infant daughter to a car accident. And just five years ago, he buried his eldest son.
From such hardship, Mr. Biden developed a deep sense of empathy that has defined much of his political career. And throughout the convention, Mr. Biden's allies testified that such empathy, backed by decades of governing experience, makes him the perfect candidate to guide the nation back from mounting health and economic crises.
His allies Thursday included Brayden Harrington, a young boy from Concord, New Hampshire. The boy said he and Mr. Biden were "members of the same club," each with a stutter they're working to overcome.
He noted that Mr. Biden told him about a book of poems he liked to read aloud to practice his speech and showed the boy how he marks his speeches so they're easier to read aloud.
"I'm just a regular kid, and in a short amount of time, Joe Biden made me more confident about a thing that's bothered me my whole life," Brayden Harrington said.
The end of the carefully scripted convention now gives way to a far less-predictable period for Mr. Biden and his Democratic Party as the 2020 election season speeds to its uncertain conclusion. While Election Day isn't until Nov. 3, early voting gets underway in several battleground states in just one month.
Mr. Biden has maintained a polling advantage over Mr. Trump for much of the year, but it remains to be seen whether the Democratic nominee's approach to politics and policy will genuinely excite the coalition he's courting in an era of uncompromising partisanship.
Mr. Biden summed up his view of the campaign: "We choose a path of becoming angry, less hopeful, and more divided, a path of shadow and suspicion, or we can choose a different path and together take this chance to heal."
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
This story was reported by The Associated Press.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-08-21--Power pivot: What happens in states where wind dethrones King Coal?

Stacey Schmid and her husband bought Range Solar and Wind in 2002 and benefited from the rise of renewables in the state .
But when Ms. Schmid thinks about America ’ s energy future , she envisions a tapestry .
Some former miners have found a new career path in Wyoming ’ s rapidly growing renewable industries .
But even residents who have forged ahead with wind and solar power aren ’ t quite ready to say goodbye to coal for good .
For families like Dawn Hardy ’ s , the shift away from coal is about a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talking about people ’ s way of life , the homes they have built .
This is really hard .
To tell someone everything you have worked for is worthless.
” Wyoming feels the trends acutely .
More than most , it harbors prodigious amounts of both traditional energy resources and renewables – providing a window into the transition the nation is undergoing and the tensions that can accompany it .
“ We ’ ve reached a point where it is now cheaper to build and operate a wind farm or solar plant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plant , ” says Joe Daniel of the Union of Concerned Scientists .
This year , for the first time , renewable power will provide more electricity in 2020 than coal power , according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration .
Laine Anderson scans the Wyoming prairie , a dusty expanse of sagebrush and prairie dogs scowling from atop their mounds .
An antelope whips past the front of his truck .
“ They always cut in front of you , ” Mr. Anderson says , shaking his head .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doesn ’ t see this dry plateau near Medicine Bow as empty ; he sees it as the future .
The wide horizon is sliced vertically by slender towers .
Below , workers hunch over machinery , assembling components .
Giant propellers wait on the ground to be lifted atop the towers .
Before year ’ s end , says Mr. Anderson , the director of wind operations for the PacifiCorp utility , 132 giant wind turbines will stir from air racing down the Rocky Mountains .
On a breezy day , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. Energy Information Administration ( EIA ) says the future that Mr. Anderson envisions , in one sense , has already come .
For the first time , according to the agency , U.S. renewable power will provide more electricity in 2020 than coal power , which has reigned king of the country ’ s electric grid for more than 70 years .
What analysts see as a pivotal point in the country ’ s energy supply has arrived much sooner than expected .
“ This is a very exciting moment , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Energy Innovation , a clean energy think tank in San Francisco .
“ A lot of experts were saying we will reach this point sometime , maybe 2050 .
They didn ’ t think it would be this quickly.
” Like most historical inflections , no single path led to this juncture .
Coal did not enter a downward spiral solely because of renewables , government regulations , or cheaper natural gas .
It was all of the above .
Wind and solar power did not begin to expand dramatically because of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demands of climate change , or cheaper technology .
It was all of the above .
The moment demonstrates an underrated force of change .
What seems an immutable trajectory can bend under the weight of tens of thousands of discrete decisions – a homeowner putting a solar panel on her roof , a business buying a cleaner furnace , a town council opting for green power , a power plant converting to a cheaper fuel – which together create a new landscape .
“ We ’ ve reached a point where it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a wind farm or solar plant than it is to operate a coal plant , ” says Joe Daniel , senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington .
“ And that trend is going to continue.
” Wyoming feels the trends acutely .
More than most , it harbors prodigious amounts of both traditional energy resources and renewables – providing a window into the transition the nation is undergoing and the tensions that can accompany it .
Indeed , the rise of renewables and decline of coal hold searing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toil to keep America ’ s lights on .
“ This area was built on coal , ” says Dave Freshour , who spent four decades as a welder , much of it in mines .
When COVID-19 hit , he retired .
Now he and his wife , Peggy , live in a mobile home between the Eagle Butte coal mine and Dry Fork coal power station north of Gillette , Wyoming , contemplating their next move .
“ Coal provided a fabulous living to me and a lot of people , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writing is on the wall .
If you don ’ t see it , you ’ re living in a dream world.
” Wyoming bills itself as “ the energy state ” for good reason .
It produces 40 % of the coal mined in the United States , along with large quantities of oil and natural gas .
In northeastern Wyoming , peat that settled 60 million years ago in primordial bogs compressed into a vast seam of coal just under the surface .
It is called the Powder River Basin , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – the North Antelope Rochelle – is the largest in the world , by reserves .
Mining jobs are woven into the fabric here .
“ Where else can you earn almost $ 100,000 right out of high school ?
” asks one coal truck driver .
While miners in Appalachia plunge themselves miles into the ground to pry at meandering black seams , in Wyoming they need only scrape away the earth , dynamite the sub-bituminous quarry , and haul it away in trucks .
Gillette , logistics capital of the Powder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once prowled by cowboys and citizens of the Arapaho , Crow , and Sioux .
Explorer John C. Fremont and his guide Kit Carson noticed coal in the territory in 1843 , and the Union Pacific Railroad started hauling coal from here even before finishing the transcontinental railway in 1869 .
Wyoming boomed with miners after the 1970s oil crises .
Those miners now pilot the largest vehicles in the world .
The open pits growl with coal-smudged trucks and excavators 24 hours a day .
Most miners work a grueling schedule of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four days .
“ When you see the paycheck , you say , ‘ Wow , that ’ s good money , ’ ” says Casey Cordova , who sits 27 feet high in the cab of a coal truck larger than a house .
“ But the biggest challenge is the shifts .
How do I adjust ?
How do I set my body to adjust ?
” By the mid-1980s , Wyoming produced the most coal in the country .
Cheap and plentiful , it rumbled in train cars out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S .
But coal is dirty : Mining scars the earth , and deep tunnel mines pollute groundwater ; burning coal produces ash and toxic chemicals that create acid rain and shorten lives ; and carbon dioxide is overheating the planet .
Wind and solar are clean alternatives , but for decades they were such a small portion of the nation ’ s electric supply they didn ’ t challenge King Coal .
Another fossil fuel did : natural gas .
When engineers figured out how to turn drills sideways and inject @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gas , electricity plants could suddenly run on fracked natural gas that emitted only about half as much carbon dioxide .
Demand for coal began falling nationally after 2007 under the pressure of cheaper natural gas , climate concerns , and the closure of old coal power plants .
At first , only Appalachian coal miners struggled : Lower rail prices made the more desirable low-sulfur coal of the West available to customers in the East .
Western coal miners cannibalized the jobs of their Eastern colleagues .
But the trends finally hit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , four mines laid off nearly 600 workers .
Last year , two mines in the Powder River Basin , Blackjewel and Cloud Peak , abruptly went bankrupt , sending home 600 workers and leaving a trail of bounced paychecks .
More layoffs this year have idled another 420 miners .
“ Don ’ t come back for your shift , ” Lynne Huskinson ’ s supervisor told her on July 1 , 2019 , over the phone .
“ We ’ re all unemployed.
” Ms. Huskinson started working for the mines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when they were looking for women to operate big machines .
It gave her 38 years of steady employment – and good money .
But when the Blackjewel mine went bankrupt underneath her feet last year , Ms. Huskinson began reading up .
She found , she says , that the huge coal companies were trying to sell mines , getting out of the business , while assuring workers all was fine .
“ We were lied to , ” she says .
And she found that the inexhaustible coal that for so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the utility boxes of America had poor prospects .
“ People are going to renewables – solar and wind .
That ’ s the future , ” she concludes .
The earlier 2016 layoffs were “ the first time something like that had happened in more than 30 years .
It was a blow , ” says Gillette ’ s mayor , Louise Carter-King , whose father also served as mayor .
“ Coal was good jobs.
” Since then , the 1.5-mile-long coal trains that block traffic in Gillette have grown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Northern Santa Fe Railway parked more than 100 locomotives outside town four years ago , and this June finally closed its big Donkey Creek switchyard there .
The city suddenly lost $ 60 million of its $ 146 million budget , and began cutting services .
Many miners eventually returned to work when the mines were purchased from bankrupt Blackjewel , but layoffs have continued intermittently .
Scores of businesses that supply the mines are hurting .
Many workers have had to leave Gillette .
“ You ’ ve got to go where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wife of a railroad worker who stayed behind in Gillette to sell the house and see their son through high school graduation before joining her husband in Colorado .
“ There ’ s just nothing else here.
” “ I ’ ve lost seven families who were customers because they had to leave , ” says Anne Fischer , who runs a small photography studio in downtown Gillette and counts on her customers ’ milestones – graduations , weddings , births – for future business .
She had to give up half her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hear in Wyoming that former President Barack Obama is to blame for coal ’ s demise because he enforced regulations of the 1970 Clean Air Act .
President Donald Trump promised he would save mines by ending what he called Mr. Obama ’ s “ war on coal.
” In fact , neither president could do little more than nudge the larger forces bearing down on the industry .
“ Trump rolled back some regulations , but it doesn ’ t mean anyone is buying [ coal ] now , ” shrugs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coal companies said exports would save the industry , but world markets are fickle and energy-hungry Asia is difficult to supply from far-away Wyoming .
For working miners who are still picking up overtime shifts , it is tempting to believe they , and mining , can hang on .
“ We aren ’ t dead yet !
” the mayor insists .
“ The time is now to start thinking of the wind-down , ” says Shannon Anderson , a lawyer with the Powder River Basin Resource Council in Sheridan .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ producing almost 300 million tons , employing 5,000 direct miners , and all of the ancillary jobs .
We still have a dozen of the nation ’ s largest coal mines.
” But , she says , “ we are on a ticking clock.
” Coal demand fell last year to the lowest level in 45 years , and the economic slowdown because of the pandemic will make 2020 worse .
“ We ’ ve gone from [ fueling ] 50 % of the country ’ s electricity to under 20 % in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Robert Godby , an energy expert at the University of Wyoming in Laramie .
“ It is just incredible.
” According to the EIA forecast in June , coal will provide 17 % of the country ’ s electricity this year , renewables 21 % , and natural gas 41 % .
The gas share is expected to drop next year if prices rise after the pandemic .
“ We ’ ve always known it ’ s a gamble , ” says Wyatt Smith , who worked in the oil fields and switched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about eight months ago .
Mining is a family affair : His stepmother is his shift dispatcher .
“ Coal is not going to be a forever deal for me , ” he says while watching his baby at his Gillette home .
“ It ’ s definitely not going to be around forever .
When it does fall , a lot of people are going to be hurting.
” The pall over the coal fields is partly one of pride .
Wyoming savored a patriotic image of tough workers powering a nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perception that coal is “ dirty.
” With a Western culture of tight-lipped endurance , some just don ’ t want to broach the subject .
“ We are not just talking about energy , ” explains Dawn Hardy , whose family – husband , father , sons – worked in mines or related businesses .
“ We are talking about people ’ s way of life , the homes they have built .
This is really hard .
To tell someone everything you have worked for is worthless ... ” She trails @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , her husband started a craft brewery in the town ’ s old post office .
The bar ’ s footrest is a length of railroad track .
Drill bits are part of the decor .
“ We sit in church with four generations of our family ” in Gillette , Ms. Hardy says softly .
“ This is home .
It ’ s hard to see what we are going to be able to do to keep our population.
” She pauses , struggling as tears well up .
“ If my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a business here , I would say no.
” Mr. Anderson , the wind operations director , represents the beckoning future of Wyoming ’ s economy .
In his neat blue PacifiCorp shirt , he doesn ’ t look like a man who ran a dude ranch for 20 years .
But he ’ s happy in his new job overseeing the creation of a series of wind farms that could help preserve Wyoming ’ s place as an electrical socket for the nation .
“ If Wyoming had the transmission lines and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m sure this whole area would be covered with turbines , ” he says , gazing across a landscape of scrub and endless horizons .
Yet wind energy isn ’ t going to replace the hundreds of jobs being lost in the coal fields .
Wind farms bring a spurt of employment during construction , but then need only about one technician per 10 turbines for maintenance .
The EIA forecasts an 11 % growth in electricity from renewable sources this year , the largest portion of new capacity .
In 2010 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the electricity supply .
Since then , the national chart of electric power sources looks like an “ X , ” with renewables and natural gas the rising leg and coal the falling one .
They crossed this year .
Cost is part of the reason behind the shift .
Prices for solar panels plunged 65 % in a decade , and their efficiency has steadily grown from 6 % when Bell Labs made the first panel in 1954 to nearly 30 % today .
For wind , similar drops in the cost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have increased generating efficiency from 7 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2009 to less than 2 cents now , the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) says .
“ There is also learning by doing , ” says Ms. Aggarwal of Energy Innovation .
“ As you deploy more and more of this technology , people get smarter about how to cut costs.
” The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates more than 2 million solar panels have been installed for U.S. homes and businesses , sporadically spurred by on-again-off-again tax credit and rebate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change goals have helped : Thirty states now require utilities to buy an increasing portion of their power from renewables , and in 18 states , according to the EPA , individual consumers can opt to pay a bit more for their electricity to require their utility to buy an equivalent amount of “ green power.
” Incessant gusts over the Rockies give Wyoming one of the richest wind resources in the nation .
Mr. Anderson is overseeing the planting of three turbine farms in the state that will double the wind power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that has made a public – and partly unpopular – choice to slowly wean itself off coal and embrace wind and natural gas .
Yet turbines won ’ t be spinning from every mountaintop anytime soon .
Wind power started with a flourish in Wyoming in 2005 , and stalled by 2010 because there was no capacity on the heavy-duty transmission lines to export the power , and because Wyoming became the only state to tax wind production , according to Dr. Godby at the University of Wyoming .
A planned wind farm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Energy Project near Rawlins would be the largest commercial wind generation facility in North America , with 900 turbines .
Construction started in 2016 but has gone slowly , in part because the transmission lines to Los Angeles and Las Vegas are not yet built .
Still , “ we ’ re changing our portfolio drastically ” to embrace wind , says Mr. Anderson , as he shows off the foundation for a new turbine – nearly 2 million pounds of concrete that will secure a 262-foot tower with blades each three-quarters the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It will change more.
” In many ways , Jesse Solaas illustrates those changes .
A native of a small town in Wyoming , Mr. Solaas entered the mines after college and spent the next 10 years working underground in coal and hard rock mining .
But a layoff , two young children , and dissatisfaction with local schools in the “ big town ” of Rock Springs prompted him to move back to Hanna ( population 774 ) .
For work , he applied to be a technician on a nearby wind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : He was afraid of heights .
The first time he climbed a tower , “ my stomach was in knots .
I was wondering , ‘ what did I just do ?
’ ” But he stuck with it , and after moving around several companies , he now supervises the wind farm where he started .
On a ridge 400 feet above his office at the Ekola Flats wind farm near Medicine Bow , 69 turbines have been spinning for two decades , and are about to be replaced by 13 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he thrives on the technological change .
“ I like staying on my toes.
” As he chats , his phone bugles with updates on lightning storms .
If one gets within 30 miles , his workers climb down from the towers .
He expects wind power will be a growing industry for his entire career .
But he still hates heights .
“ I ’ ve learned to listen , ” he says of climbing a 285-foot turbine .
“ Instead of arguing with my body , I stay low , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make sure my lanyard is tight .
I think respecting it makes me safer.
” Wind isn ’ t the only renewable energy here .
On a sprawling cattle farm down a mostly dirt road near Glenrock , Wyoming , Stacey and Mark Schmid are assembling five long arrays of solar panels – 320 in all – on the prairie .
The ranch sits at 7,200 feet .
The sky is full of drama and rumbling clouds .
The rancher , Billy Brenton , is eager to slash the $ 3,300-a-month electric bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ six barns , and farm equipment on his Echo Mountain Ranch , and he sees solar as the way to do it .
“ Ten years ago it wouldn ’ t have made sense , but now the technology has caught up , ” says Mr. Brenton .
When the solar array is operating , “ I will basically have free power ” with excess to sell back to the utility company .
The sun is not always an easy sell in Wyoming .
The Schmids took over a small company , Range @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the movie industry in North Carolina in 2002 and bought vacant land west of Casper for a hog farm .
Their business sold simple solar panels that cost $ 600 each .
Since then , the industry has advanced dramatically .
The array they are installing today is the size of a small generating station , and the couple routinely does $ 12,000 jobs on residential rooftops across the state .
“ It ’ s a battle , ” says Ms. Schmid .
“ Some people just don ’ t like solar .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the changing energy scene is illustrated in the drive to the ranch .
On the rolling prairie , bobbing pumps – “ nodding donkeys ” – slowly suck oil from underground .
Down the road , 10 wind turbines sit perched on a ridge .
On days when they are not spinning fast enough , a coal-fired generator at a local power plant kicks in , belching white steam , to produce electricity .
As she torques down a clamp on the solar array , Ms. Schmid thinks about the tableau around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We need them all , ” she says , displaying a classic Western pragmatism .
“ There ’ s no perfect power.
” This story was produced with support from an Energy Foundation grant to cover the environment .

“We need them all,” she says of Wyoming’s energy sources. “There’s no perfect power.”
Stacey Schmid and her husband bought Range Solar and Wind in 2002 and benefited from the rise of renewables in the state. But when Ms. Schmid thinks about America’s energy future, she envisions a tapestry.
Some former miners have found a new career path in Wyoming’s rapidly growing renewable industries. But even residents who have forged ahead with wind and solar power aren’t quite ready to say goodbye to coal for good.
For families like Dawn Hardy’s, the shift away from coal is about a lot more than energy. “We are talking about people’s way of life, the homes they have built. This is really hard. To tell someone everything you have worked for is worthless.”
Wyoming feels the trends acutely. More than most, it harbors prodigious amounts of both traditional energy resources and renewables – providing a window into the transition the nation is undergoing and the tensions that can accompany it.
In an age of global warming, coal consumption is dropping and renewable energy is rising. Nowhere is that trend – and the tension caused by the shift – more evident than in Wyoming, a state with prodigious amounts of fossil fuels and wind resources.
“We’ve reached a point where it is now cheaper to build and operate a wind farm or solar plant than it is to operate a coal plant,” says Joe Daniel of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
This year, for the first time, renewable power will provide more electricity in 2020 than coal power, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Laine Anderson scans the Wyoming prairie, a dusty expanse of sagebrush and prairie dogs scowling from atop their mounds. An antelope whips past the front of his truck. “They always cut in front of you,” Mr. Anderson says, shaking his head. It’s one of those mysteries.
Mr. Anderson doesn’t see this dry plateau near Medicine Bow as empty; he sees it as the future. The wide horizon is sliced vertically by slender towers. Below, workers hunch over machinery, assembling components. Giant propellers wait on the ground to be lifted atop the towers.
Before year’s end, says Mr. Anderson, the director of wind operations for the PacifiCorp utility, 132 giant wind turbines will stir from air racing down the Rocky Mountains. On a breezy day, they could power a medium-sized city.
Why We Wrote This In an age of global warming, coal consumption is dropping and renewable energy is rising. Nowhere is that trend – and the tension caused by the shift – more evident than in Wyoming, a state with prodigious amounts of fossil fuels and wind resources.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says the future that Mr. Anderson envisions, in one sense, has already come. For the first time, according to the agency, U.S. renewable power will provide more electricity in 2020 than coal power, which has reigned king of the country’s electric grid for more than 70 years. What analysts see as a pivotal point in the country’s energy supply has arrived much sooner than expected.
“This is a very exciting moment,” says Sonia Aggarwal, vice president of Energy Innovation, a clean energy think tank in San Francisco. “A lot of experts were saying we will reach this point sometime, maybe 2050. They didn’t think it would be this quickly.”
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff View caption Hide caption Cranes hoist huge blades for wind turbines being installed outside Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The utility PacifiCorp is erecting 132 wind turbines at two locations in Carbon County.
Like most historical inflections, no single path led to this juncture. Coal did not enter a downward spiral solely because of renewables, government regulations, or cheaper natural gas. It was all of the above. Wind and solar power did not begin to expand dramatically because of a newfound ardor for the environment, the demands of climate change, or cheaper technology. It was all of the above.
The moment demonstrates an underrated force of change. What seems an immutable trajectory can bend under the weight of tens of thousands of discrete decisions – a homeowner putting a solar panel on her roof, a business buying a cleaner furnace, a town council opting for green power, a power plant converting to a cheaper fuel – which together create a new landscape.
“We’ve reached a point where it is now cheaper to build and operate a wind farm or solar plant than it is to operate a coal plant,” says Joe Daniel, senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. “And that trend is going to continue.”
“Built on coal”
Wyoming feels the trends acutely. More than most, it harbors prodigious amounts of both traditional energy resources and renewables – providing a window into the transition the nation is undergoing and the tensions that can accompany it. Indeed, the rise of renewables and decline of coal hold searing consequences for those across the state who toil to keep America’s lights on.
“This area was built on coal,” says Dave Freshour, who spent four decades as a welder, much of it in mines. When COVID-19 hit, he retired. Now he and his wife, Peggy, live in a mobile home between the Eagle Butte coal mine and Dry Fork coal power station north of Gillette, Wyoming, contemplating their next move.
Doug Struck View caption Hide caption “Coal provided a fabulous living to me and a lot of people,” says Dave Freshour, a welder who worked for many years in Wyoming mines. “But the writing is on the wall. If you don’t see it, you’re living in a dream world.”
“Coal provided a fabulous living to me and a lot of people,” he says. “But the writing is on the wall. If you don’t see it, you’re living in a dream world.”
Wyoming bills itself as “the energy state” for good reason. It produces 40% of the coal mined in the United States, along with large quantities of oil and natural gas. In northeastern Wyoming, peat that settled 60 million years ago in primordial bogs compressed into a vast seam of coal just under the surface. It is called the Powder River Basin, and just one of its many mines – the North Antelope Rochelle – is the largest in the world, by reserves.
Mining jobs are woven into the fabric here. “Where else can you earn almost $100,000 right out of high school?” asks one coal truck driver. While miners in Appalachia plunge themselves miles into the ground to pry at meandering black seams, in Wyoming they need only scrape away the earth, dynamite the sub-bituminous quarry, and haul it away in trucks.
Gillette, logistics capital of the Powder River Basin, is built on rangeland once prowled by cowboys and citizens of the Arapaho, Crow, and Sioux. Explorer John C. Fremont and his guide Kit Carson noticed coal in the territory in 1843, and the Union Pacific Railroad started hauling coal from here even before finishing the transcontinental railway in 1869. Wyoming boomed with miners after the 1970s oil crises. Those miners now pilot the largest vehicles in the world. The open pits growl with coal-smudged trucks and excavators 24 hours a day.
Most miners work a grueling schedule of 12-hour shifts that alternate every three or four days. “When you see the paycheck, you say, ‘Wow, that’s good money,’” says Casey Cordova, who sits 27 feet high in the cab of a coal truck larger than a house. “But the biggest challenge is the shifts. How do I adjust? How do I set my body to adjust?”
By the mid-1980s, Wyoming produced the most coal in the country. Cheap and plentiful, it rumbled in train cars out of Gillette and powered electrical plants all over the U.S.
Mead Gruver/AP/File View caption Hide caption A truck hauls coal at the Eagle Butte mine near Gillette, Wyoming. Mines in the Powder River Basin have laid off workers in recent years.
But coal is dirty: Mining scars the earth, and deep tunnel mines pollute groundwater; burning coal produces ash and toxic chemicals that create acid rain and shorten lives; and carbon dioxide is overheating the planet.
Wind and solar are clean alternatives, but for decades they were such a small portion of the nation’s electric supply they didn’t challenge King Coal. Another fossil fuel did: natural gas. When engineers figured out how to turn drills sideways and inject fluid into subterranean hideaways to force out gas, electricity plants could suddenly run on fracked natural gas that emitted only about half as much carbon dioxide.
Demand for coal began falling nationally after 2007 under the pressure of cheaper natural gas, climate concerns, and the closure of old coal power plants. At first, only Appalachian coal miners struggled: Lower rail prices made the more desirable low-sulfur coal of the West available to customers in the East. Western coal miners cannibalized the jobs of their Eastern colleagues.
But the trends finally hit Wyoming with a jolt. In 2016, four mines laid off nearly 600 workers. Last year, two mines in the Powder River Basin, Blackjewel and Cloud Peak, abruptly went bankrupt, sending home 600 workers and leaving a trail of bounced paychecks. More layoffs this year have idled another 420 miners.
“Don’t come back for your shift,” Lynne Huskinson’s supervisor told her on July 1, 2019, over the phone. “We’re all unemployed.”
Ms. Huskinson started working for the mines just out of high school in 1979 when they were looking for women to operate big machines. It gave her 38 years of steady employment – and good money. But when the Blackjewel mine went bankrupt underneath her feet last year, Ms. Huskinson began reading up. She found, she says, that the huge coal companies were trying to sell mines, getting out of the business, while assuring workers all was fine. “We were lied to,” she says.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff View caption Hide caption A train filled with coal stops in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Fewer trains have been rumbling through the state as coal consumption has dropped.
And she found that the inexhaustible coal that for so long had fired the economy of Wyoming and the utility boxes of America had poor prospects. “People are going to renewables – solar and wind. That’s the future,” she concludes.
The earlier 2016 layoffs were “the first time something like that had happened in more than 30 years. It was a blow,” says Gillette’s mayor, Louise Carter-King, whose father also served as mayor. “Coal was good jobs.”
Since then, the 1.5-mile-long coal trains that block traffic in Gillette have grown shorter and less frequent. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway parked more than 100 locomotives outside town four years ago, and this June finally closed its big Donkey Creek switchyard there.
The city suddenly lost $60 million of its $146 million budget, and began cutting services. Many miners eventually returned to work when the mines were purchased from bankrupt Blackjewel, but layoffs have continued intermittently. Scores of businesses that supply the mines are hurting. Many workers have had to leave Gillette.
“You’ve got to go where the work is,” says the wife of a railroad worker who stayed behind in Gillette to sell the house and see their son through high school graduation before joining her husband in Colorado. “There’s just nothing else here.”
“I’ve lost seven families who were customers because they had to leave,” says Anne Fischer, who runs a small photography studio in downtown Gillette and counts on her customers’ milestones – graduations, weddings, births – for future business. She had to give up half her studio space.
It’s common to hear in Wyoming that former President Barack Obama is to blame for coal’s demise because he enforced regulations of the 1970 Clean Air Act. President Donald Trump promised he would save mines by ending what he called Mr. Obama’s “war on coal.” In fact, neither president could do little more than nudge the larger forces bearing down on the industry.
“Trump rolled back some regulations, but it doesn’t mean anyone is buying [coal] now,” shrugs Mayor Carter-King.
For a while, coal companies said exports would save the industry, but world markets are fickle and energy-hungry Asia is difficult to supply from far-away Wyoming. For working miners who are still picking up overtime shifts, it is tempting to believe they, and mining, can hang on. “We aren’t dead yet!” the mayor insists.
Mead Gruver/AP/File View caption Hide caption A poster in a storefront urges locals to persevere amid hardship in Gillette, Wyoming. Coal mines in the nearby Powder River Basin have idled hundreds of workers in recent years, prompting businesses to close and the town to dramatically slash its budget.
“The time is now to start thinking of the wind-down,” says Shannon Anderson, a lawyer with the Powder River Basin Resource Council in Sheridan. “Right now in Wyoming we still are producing almost 300 million tons, employing 5,000 direct miners, and all of the ancillary jobs. We still have a dozen of the nation’s largest coal mines.” But, she says, “we are on a ticking clock.”
Coal demand fell last year to the lowest level in 45 years, and the economic slowdown because of the pandemic will make 2020 worse. “We’ve gone from [fueling] 50% of the country’s electricity to under 20% in just under a decade,” says Robert Godby, an energy expert at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. “It is just incredible.”
According to the EIA forecast in June, coal will provide 17% of the country’s electricity this year, renewables 21%, and natural gas 41%. The gas share is expected to drop next year if prices rise after the pandemic.
“We’ve always known it’s a gamble,” says Wyatt Smith, who worked in the oil fields and switched to a job in the coal fields about eight months ago. Mining is a family affair: His stepmother is his shift dispatcher. “Coal is not going to be a forever deal for me,” he says while watching his baby at his Gillette home. “It’s definitely not going to be around forever. When it does fall, a lot of people are going to be hurting.”
The pall over the coal fields is partly one of pride. Wyoming savored a patriotic image of tough workers powering a nation; now those miners resent the widespread perception that coal is “dirty.” With a Western culture of tight-lipped endurance, some just don’t want to broach the subject.
“We are not just talking about energy,” explains Dawn Hardy, whose family – husband, father, sons – worked in mines or related businesses. “We are talking about people’s way of life, the homes they have built. This is really hard. To tell someone everything you have worked for is worthless ...” She trails off.
Between shifts in the mine, her husband started a craft brewery in the town’s old post office. The bar’s footrest is a length of railroad track. Drill bits are part of the decor. “We sit in church with four generations of our family” in Gillette, Ms. Hardy says softly. “This is home. It’s hard to see what we are going to be able to do to keep our population.”
She pauses, struggling as tears well up. “If my kids asked me if they should start a business here, I would say no.”
Harnessing the wind
Mr. Anderson, the wind operations director, represents the beckoning future of Wyoming’s economy. In his neat blue PacifiCorp shirt, he doesn’t look like a man who ran a dude ranch for 20 years. But he’s happy in his new job overseeing the creation of a series of wind farms that could help preserve Wyoming’s place as an electrical socket for the nation.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff View caption Hide caption Wind turbines spin in Fort Bridger, Wyoming, on July 4, 2020. The state is using alternatives to coal, including renewable sources.
“If Wyoming had the transmission lines and they would let us, I’m sure this whole area would be covered with turbines,” he says, gazing across a landscape of scrub and endless horizons.
Yet wind energy isn’t going to replace the hundreds of jobs being lost in the coal fields. Wind farms bring a spurt of employment during construction, but then need only about one technician per 10 turbines for maintenance.
The EIA forecasts an 11% growth in electricity from renewable sources this year, the largest portion of new capacity. In 2010, renewables accounted for just 10% of the electricity supply. Since then, the national chart of electric power sources looks like an “X,” with renewables and natural gas the rising leg and coal the falling one. They crossed this year.
Cost is part of the reason behind the shift. Prices for solar panels plunged 65% in a decade, and their efficiency has steadily grown from 6% when Bell Labs made the first panel in 1954 to nearly 30% today. For wind, similar drops in the cost of machinery and improvements in turbine technology have increased generating efficiency from 7 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2009 to less than 2 cents now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says.
“There is also learning by doing,” says Ms. Aggarwal of Energy Innovation. “As you deploy more and more of this technology, people get smarter about how to cut costs.”
The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates more than 2 million solar panels have been installed for U.S. homes and businesses, sporadically spurred by on-again-off-again tax credit and rebate programs.
Government policies to meet climate change goals have helped: Thirty states now require utilities to buy an increasing portion of their power from renewables, and in 18 states, according to the EPA, individual consumers can opt to pay a bit more for their electricity to require their utility to buy an equivalent amount of “green power.”
Incessant gusts over the Rockies give Wyoming one of the richest wind resources in the nation. Mr. Anderson is overseeing the planting of three turbine farms in the state that will double the wind power here for PacifiCorp, a Western utility that has made a public – and partly unpopular – choice to slowly wean itself off coal and embrace wind and natural gas.
Yet turbines won’t be spinning from every mountaintop anytime soon. Wind power started with a flourish in Wyoming in 2005, and stalled by 2010 because there was no capacity on the heavy-duty transmission lines to export the power, and because Wyoming became the only state to tax wind production, according to Dr. Godby at the University of Wyoming.
A planned wind farm called the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project near Rawlins would be the largest commercial wind generation facility in North America, with 900 turbines. Construction started in 2016 but has gone slowly, in part because the transmission lines to Los Angeles and Las Vegas are not yet built.
Still, “we’re changing our portfolio drastically” to embrace wind, says Mr. Anderson, as he shows off the foundation for a new turbine – nearly 2 million pounds of concrete that will secure a 262-foot tower with blades each three-quarters the length of a football field. “It will change more.”
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff View caption Hide caption Jesse Solaas worked as a miner for 10 years but now supervises a wind farm near Medicine Bow, Wyoming.
In many ways, Jesse Solaas illustrates those changes. A native of a small town in Wyoming, Mr. Solaas entered the mines after college and spent the next 10 years working underground in coal and hard rock mining. But a layoff, two young children, and dissatisfaction with local schools in the “big town” of Rock Springs prompted him to move back to Hanna (population 774). For work, he applied to be a technician on a nearby wind farm in 2005.
The only problem: He was afraid of heights. The first time he climbed a tower, “my stomach was in knots. I was wondering, ‘what did I just do?’” But he stuck with it, and after moving around several companies, he now supervises the wind farm where he started. On a ridge 400 feet above his office at the Ekola Flats wind farm near Medicine Bow, 69 turbines have been spinning for two decades, and are about to be replaced by 13 more efficient machines.
Mr. Solaas says he thrives on the technological change. “I like staying on my toes.” As he chats, his phone bugles with updates on lightning storms. If one gets within 30 miles, his workers climb down from the towers. He expects wind power will be a growing industry for his entire career. But he still hates heights.
“I’ve learned to listen,” he says of climbing a 285-foot turbine. “Instead of arguing with my body, I stay low, I don’t push it. I make sure my lanyard is tight. I think respecting it makes me safer.”
“There’s no perfect power”
Wind isn’t the only renewable energy here. On a sprawling cattle farm down a mostly dirt road near Glenrock, Wyoming, Stacey and Mark Schmid are assembling five long arrays of solar panels – 320 in all – on the prairie. The ranch sits at 7,200 feet. The sky is full of drama and rumbling clouds.
Doug Struck View caption Hide caption “It’s a battle,” says Stacey Schmid, who runs a solar company in Casper, Wyoming, with her husband, Mark. “Some people just don’t like solar. This is a fossil fuel state.”
The rancher, Billy Brenton, is eager to slash the $3,300-a-month electric bill he gets for the five homes, six barns, and farm equipment on his Echo Mountain Ranch, and he sees solar as the way to do it. “Ten years ago it wouldn’t have made sense, but now the technology has caught up,” says Mr. Brenton. When the solar array is operating, “I will basically have free power” with excess to sell back to the utility company.
The sun is not always an easy sell in Wyoming. The Schmids took over a small company, Range Solar and Wind, after they fled the movie industry in North Carolina in 2002 and bought vacant land west of Casper for a hog farm. Their business sold simple solar panels that cost $600 each. Since then, the industry has advanced dramatically. The array they are installing today is the size of a small generating station, and the couple routinely does $12,000 jobs on residential rooftops across the state.
“It’s a battle,” says Ms. Schmid. “Some people just don’t like solar. This is a fossil fuel state.”
But the changing energy scene is illustrated in the drive to the ranch. On the rolling prairie, bobbing pumps – “nodding donkeys” – slowly suck oil from underground. Down the road, 10 wind turbines sit perched on a ridge. On days when they are not spinning fast enough, a coal-fired generator at a local power plant kicks in, belching white steam, to produce electricity.
As she torques down a clamp on the solar array, Ms. Schmid thinks about the tableau around her and America’s energy future.
“We need them all,” she says, displaying a classic Western pragmatism. “There’s no perfect power.”
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
This story was produced with support from an Energy Foundation grant to cover the environment.


csmonitor--2020-08-23--Residents in Louisiana and Texas prepare for two hurricanes

The Gulf Coast braced Sunday for a potentially devastating hit from twin hurricanes as two dangerous storms swirled toward the U.S from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean .
Officials feared a history-making onslaught of life-threatening winds and flooding along the coast , stretching from Texas to Alabama .
A storm dubbed Marco grew into a hurricane Sunday as it churned up the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana .
Another potential hurricane , Tropical Storm Laura , lashed the Dominican Republic and Haiti , and was tracking toward the same region of the U.S. coast , carrying the risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ storm .
Experts said computer models show Laura could make landfall with winds exceeding 110 mph , and rain bands from both storms could bring a combined total of 2 feet of rain to parts of Louisiana and several feet of potentially deadly storm surge .
“ There has never been anything we ’ ve seen like this before , where you can have possibly two hurricanes hitting within miles of each over a 48-hour period , ” said Benjamin Schott , meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service ’ s Slidell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the rain and storm surge in a day or two means “ you 're looking at a potential for a major flood event that lasts for some time , ” said weather service tropical program coordinator Joel Cline .
`` And that ’ s not even talking about the wind.
’ ’ Where precisely Marco was headed — and when the storm might arrive — remained elusive Sunday .
The hurricane was initially expected to make landfall Monday , but the National Hurricane Center said that “ a major shift ” in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show the storm stalling off the Louisiana coast for a few days before landing west of New Orleans — and likely weakening before hitting the state .
However , skeptical meteorologists at the center were waiting to see if the trends continue before making a dramatic revision in their forecast .
Marco is a small storm that may be pushed westward along the Louisiana coast , delaying landfall but worsening storm surge , Cline said .
The prospect of piggybacked hurricanes was reviving all-too-fresh memories of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2005 .
The storm has been blamed for as many as 1,800 deaths and levee breaches in New Orleans led to catastrophic flooding .
“ What we know is there ’ s going to be storm surge from Marco , we know that that water is not going to recede hardly at all before Laura hits , and so we ’ ve not seen this before and that ’ s why people need to be paying particular attention , ” Louisiana Gov .
John Bel Edwards warned at a Sunday briefing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ island of Grand Isle , south of New Orleans , Starfish Restaurant manager Nicole Fantiny could see an exodus of people driving off the island .
“ They are all packing up and leaving , ” she said .
Fantiny wasn ’ t planning to leave , at least for Marco , but she was anxious about the possible one-two punch from both storms .
Her husband works with the town ’ s fire and police departments , so she said they are always among the last ones to leave .
“ My @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think we ’ re good , ” she said hopefully .
Marco is expected to dance above and below hurricane status after hitting the 75 mph-wind mark Sunday afternoon .
“ The central Gulf could be really under the gun between Marco and Laura in back-to-back succession , ’ ’ said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach .
“ Certainly both of these storms can impact New Orleans significantly .
It just remains to be seen if the track for Laura tracks a bit to the west.
” University of Miami hurricane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New Orleans should be alarmed by the threat .
At issue from possible dual hits : whether the levee system can withstand the stress , he said .
In New Orleans , the city ’ s aging drainage system has been a particular point of concern in recent years after an intense 2017 storm flooded streets and raised questions about the system ’ s viability .
Because the city is surrounded by levees and parts are below sea level , rainwater must be pumped out to prevent flooding .
Any storm system that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for extended periods of time , or bands of rain that come in rapid succession , is a cause for concern .
New Orleans resident Matthew Meloy and two friends loaded a van with cases of bottled water in the parking lot of a New Orleans Walmart Sunday .
He said they still have a lot of storm preparations ahead .
“ Check the batteries , flashlights , stocking up on food and trying to park the car on the highest point possible we can find , ” he said .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ filling up the tanks in the cars.
” Tourists were strolling through the New Orleans French Quarter under overcast skies as workers boarded up shop windows .
Louisiana corrections officials were evacuating 500 inmates from a jail in Plaquemines Parish , near the coast , to another facility in preparation for the storms .
In Kenner , just outside New Orleans , resident P.J .
Hahn said checkout lines in a Sam ’ s Club reached to the back of the store , while authorities said 114 oil and gas producing platforms in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ storms churn toward the Louisiana coast .
Because of strong winds from the southwest , Marco may attain and then lose hurricane status before it hits land , meteorologists said .
But those winds could be gone when Laura ventures to the central Gulf , where the usually bathtub-warm water is a degree or 2 ( 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius ) warmer than normal , Klotzbach said .
The warmer the water , the stronger the fuel for a hurricane .
“ It , unfortunately , might peak in intensity about landfall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I worry about with this one , ” MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel said of Laura .
His multiple computer simulations show a decent chance of winds of more than 110 mph for Laura at landfall , as do other computer models .
The key for Laura ’ s future is how it survives Cuba .
Originally forecast to rake over almost the entire length of the island and potentially weaken , the storm late Sunday moved further south , skirting the island .
If that continues , it is more likely to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the favorable environment of the Gulf of Mexico , Klotzbach said .
If that continues , Laura could hit further west in the Gulf , possibly into Texas instead of Louisiana , he said .
If it hits Louisiana that would break the record for two named storms hitting the state so close together .
The current record is five days apart in 1885 , Klotzbach said .
And there 's one long-term possibility that adds to the risk .
As Laura moves north after landfall into Oklahoma , there 's a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the jet stream , travel east and emerge over North Carolina and return to tropical storm status , McNoldy and Klotzbach said .
By late afternoon Sunday , Laura was 50 miles ( 80 km ) south of Guantanamo , Cuba , with 60 mph ( 95 kmh ) winds moving west-northwest at 21 mph ( 33 kmh ) .
Marco was 240 miles ( 390 km ) south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River , with 75 mph ( 120 kph ) winds , moving north-northwest at 13 mph ( 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , about 50 miles south of New Orleans near the mouth of the Mississippi River , shrimp , oyster and fishing boats line the docks .
It was eerily quiet Sunday evening , as most fishermen had already secured their boats .
Mike Bartholemey was putting extra blocks of wood under his recently dry docked 50-foot shrimp boat “ Big Mike , ” out of his concern that hurricane winds might topple his boat to the ground .
In Venice , a fishing town on the Mississippi River , shrimper Acy Cooper was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shrimp boats from the harbor into the bayous nearby to ride out the storm .
It ’ s the same area where he moored his boat during Hurricane Katrina .
The boat survived ; his house in Venice did not .
Martin reported from Marietta , Georgia .
Borenstein reported from Kensington , Maryland .
AP reporter Stacey Plaisance in New Orleans ; and photojournalist Gerald Herbert in Empire , Louisiana , also contributed .

Rebecca Santana, Jeff Martin, and Seth Borenstein

The Gulf Coast braced Sunday for a potentially devastating hit from twin hurricanes as two dangerous storms swirled toward the U.S from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Officials feared a history-making onslaught of life-threatening winds and flooding along the coast, stretching from Texas to Alabama.
A storm dubbed Marco grew into a hurricane Sunday as it churned up the Gulf of Mexico toward Louisiana. Another potential hurricane, Tropical Storm Laura, lashed the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and was tracking toward the same region of the U.S. coast, carrying the risk of growing into a far more powerful storm.
Experts said computer models show Laura could make landfall with winds exceeding 110 mph, and rain bands from both storms could bring a combined total of 2 feet of rain to parts of Louisiana and several feet of potentially deadly storm surge.
“There has never been anything we’ve seen like this before, where you can have possibly two hurricanes hitting within miles of each over a 48-hour period,” said Benjamin Schott, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s Slidell, Louisiana, office.
The combination of the rain and storm surge in a day or two means “you're looking at a potential for a major flood event that lasts for some time,” said weather service tropical program coordinator Joel Cline. "And that’s not even talking about the wind.’’
Where precisely Marco was headed – and when the storm might arrive – remained elusive Sunday.
The hurricane was initially expected to make landfall Monday, but the National Hurricane Center said that “a major shift” in a majority of their computer models now show the storm stalling off the Louisiana coast for a few days before landing west of New Orleans – and likely weakening before hitting the state. However, skeptical meteorologists at the center were waiting to see if the trends continue before making a dramatic revision in their forecast.
Marco is a small storm that may be pushed westward along the Louisiana coast, delaying landfall but worsening storm surge, Mr. Cline said.
The prospect of piggybacked hurricanes was reviving all-too-fresh memories of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005. The storm has been blamed for as many as 1,800 deaths and levee breaches in New Orleans led to catastrophic flooding.
“What we know is there’s going to be storm surge from Marco, we know that that water is not going to recede hardly at all before Laura hits, and so we’ve not seen this before and that’s why people need to be paying particular attention,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards warned at a Sunday briefing.
Along the main drag on the barrier island of Grand Isle, south of New Orleans, Starfish Restaurant manager Nicole Fantiny could see an exodus of people driving off the island.
“They are all packing up and leaving,” she said.
Ms. Fantiny wasn’t planning to leave, at least for Marco, but she was anxious about the possible one-two punch from both storms.
Her husband works with the town’s fire and police departments, so she said they are always among the last ones to leave.
“My house was built in 1938 so I think we’re good,” she said hopefully.
Marco is expected to dance above and below hurricane status after hitting the 75 mph-wind mark Sunday afternoon.
“The central Gulf could be really under the gun between Marco and Laura in back-to-back succession,’’ said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. “Certainly both of these storms can impact New Orleans significantly. It just remains to be seen if the track for Laura tracks a bit to the west.”
University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy warned that anyone in New Orleans should be alarmed by the threat. At issue from possible dual hits: whether the levee system can withstand the stress, he said.
In New Orleans, the city’s aging drainage system has been a particular point of concern in recent years after an intense 2017 storm flooded streets and raised questions about the system’s viability.
Because the city is surrounded by levees and parts are below sea level, rainwater must be pumped out to prevent flooding. Any storm system that sits over the city and dumps rain for extended periods of time, or bands of rain that come in rapid succession, is a cause for concern.
New Orleans resident Matthew Meloy and two friends loaded a van with cases of bottled water in the parking lot of a New Orleans Walmart Sunday. He said they still have a lot of storm preparations ahead.
“Check the batteries, flashlights, stocking up on food and trying to park the car on the highest point possible we can find,” he said. “I already spent like 40 minutes this morning filling up the tanks in the cars.”
Tourists were strolling through the New Orleans French Quarter under overcast skies as workers boarded up shop windows. Louisiana corrections officials were evacuating 500 inmates from a jail in Plaquemines Parish, near the coast, to another facility in preparation for the storms.
In Kenner, just outside New Orleans, resident P.J. Hahn said checkout lines in a Sam’s Club reached to the back of the store, while authorities said 114 oil and gas producing platforms in the Gulf have been evacuated as the storms churn toward the Louisiana coast.
Because of strong winds from the southwest, Marco may attain and then lose hurricane status before it hits land, meteorologists said. But those winds could be gone when Laura ventures to the central Gulf, where the usually bathtub-warm water is a degree or 2 warmer than normal, Mr. Klotzbach said.
The warmer the water, the stronger the fuel for a hurricane.
“It, unfortunately, might peak in intensity about landfall. That’s the one thing I worry about with this one,” MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel said of Laura. His multiple computer simulations show a decent chance of winds of more than 110 mph for Laura at landfall, as do other computer models.
The key for Laura’s future is how it survives Cuba. Originally forecast to rake over almost the entire length of the island and potentially weaken, the storm late Sunday moved further south, skirting the island. If that continues, it is more likely to come out strong enough to power up over the favorable environment of the Gulf of Mexico, Mr. Klotzbach said.
If that continues, Laura could hit further west in the Gulf, possibly into Texas instead of Louisiana, he said. If it hits Louisiana that would break the record for two named storms hitting the state so close together. The current record is five days apart in 1885, Mr. Klotzbach said.
And there's one long-term possibility that adds to the risk. As Laura moves north after landfall into Oklahoma, there's a chance it will be caught up into the jet stream, travel east, and emerge over North Carolina and return to tropical storm status, Mr. McNoldy and Mr. Klotzbach said.
By late afternoon Sunday, Laura was 50 miles south of Guantanamo, Cuba, with 60 mph winds moving west-northwest at 21 mph. Marco was 240 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with 75 mph winds, moving north-northwest at 13 mph.
In Empire, Louisiana, about 50 miles south of New Orleans near the mouth of the Mississippi River, shrimp, oyster, and fishing boats line the docks. It was eerily quiet Sunday evening, as most fishermen had already secured their boats. Mike Bartholemey was putting extra blocks of wood under his recently dry docked 50-foot shrimp boat “Big Mike,” out of his concern that hurricane winds might topple his boat to the ground.
In Venice, a fishing town on the Mississippi River, shrimper Acy Cooper was up early Sunday to move his three shrimp boats from the harbor into the bayous nearby to ride out the storm. It’s the same area where he moored his boat during Hurricane Katrina.
The boat survived; his house in Venice did not.
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. Photojournalist Gerald Herbert in Empire, Louisiana, contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-08-23--Reinforcements brought in to fight three major California fires

Crews from across the U.S. West , military planes and National Guard troops poured into California on Sunday to join the fight against two dozen major wildfires burning across the state , as officials warned of more dry lightning storms approaching .
The worst of the blazes , including the second and third largest wildfires in recorded California history , were burning in and around the San Francisco Bay Area , where more than 200,000 people have been told to flee their homes .
`` Extreme fire behavior with short and long range spotting are continuing to challenge firefighting efforts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ multiple directions and impacting multiple communities , '' the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said of the largest conflagration , the LNU Lightning Complex .
The fires , which were ignited by lightning from dry thunderstorms across Northern and Central California over the past week , have killed at least six people and destroyed some 700 homes and other structures .
All told , more than one million acres have been blackened , according to Cal Fire .
Smoke and ash has blanketed much of the northern part of California for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from several states away .
The LNU Complex , which began as a string of smaller fires that merged into one massive blaze , has burned across roughly 340,000 acres of Napa , Sonoma , Lake , Yolo and Solano counties , Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said at a news briefing on Sunday .
It is now the second-largest wildfire on record in the state and was only 17 % contained as of Sunday afternoon .
To the south the SCU Lightning Complex was nearly as large , at 339,000 acres , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Outside the Bay Area , the flames were threatening forests near the University of California at Santa Cruz and a wide swath of the area between San Francisco and the state capital of Sacramento .
Reinforcement crews and fire engines have arrived from Arizona , Montana , Nevada , Texas and Utah , with more on the way , Berlant said .
Some 200 members of the U.S. National Guard had been activated and the U.S. military sent planes , he said .
President Donald Trump on Saturday declared the fires @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funds to help residents and businesses harmed by the fires in seven counties pay for temporary housing and repairs .
Berlant said more dry thunderstorms were forecast through Tuesday and so-called red flag warnings had been issued across much of the northern and central parts of California during a record-breaking heat wave that has baked the state for more than a week , caused by a dome of atmospheric high pressure hovering over the American Southwest .
Meteorologists say that same high-pressure ridge has also been siphoning moisture from remnants of a now-dissipated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and creating conditions rife for thunderstorms across much of California .
Most of the precipitation from the storms evaporates before reaching the ground , leaving dry lightning strikes that have contributed to a volatile wildfire season .
Since Aug. 15 , more than 500 fires of varying sizes have burned throughout California , scorching 1.2 million acres , or 1,875 square miles ( 4,856 square kilometers ) .
Of those , about two dozen major fires were attracting much of the state ’ s resources , the Associate Press reports .
Most of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complex fires .
They have burned 1,175 square miles ( 3.043 square kilometers ) , destroyed almost 1,000 homes and other structures and killed five people , three of whom who were found in a home in an area under an evacuation order .
Other casualties included ancient redwood trees at California ’ s oldest state park , Big Basin Redwoods , plus the park ’ s headquarters and campgrounds .
Smoke from the fires made the region ’ s air quality dangerous , forcing millions to stay inside .
Officials surveying maps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sheer size of the fires , Cal Fire spokesman Brice Bennett told the Associated Press .
“ You could overlay half of one of these fires and it covers the entire city of San Francisco , ” Bennett said Sunday .

Crews from across the United States West, military planes, and National Guard troops poured into California on Sunday to join the fight against two dozen major wildfires burning across the state, as officials warned of more dry lightning storms approaching.
The worst of the blazes, including the second and third largest wildfires in recorded California history, were burning in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, where more than 200,000 people have been told to flee their homes.
"Extreme fire behavior with short and long range spotting are continuing to challenge firefighting efforts. Fires continue to make runs in multiple directions and impacting multiple communities," the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said of the largest conflagration, the LNU Lightning Complex.
The fires, which were ignited by lightning from dry thunderstorms across Northern and Central California over the past week, have killed at least six people and destroyed some 700 homes and other structures. All told, more than one million acres have been blackened, according to Cal Fire.
Smoke and ash has blanketed much of the northern part of California for days, drifting for miles and visible from several states away.
The LNU Complex, which began as a string of smaller fires that merged into one massive blaze, has burned across roughly 340,000 acres of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo, and Solano counties, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said at a news briefing on Sunday.
It is now the second-largest wildfire on record in the state and was only 17% contained as of Sunday afternoon. To the south the SCU Lightning Complex was nearly as large, at 339,000 acres, and only 10% contained, Mr. Berlant said.
Crews arrive from other states
Outside the Bay Area, the flames were threatening forests near the University of California at Santa Cruz and a wide swath of the area between San Francisco and the state capital of Sacramento.
Reinforcement crews and fire engines have arrived from Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Texas, and Utah, with more on the way, Mr. Berlant said. Some 200 members of the U.S. National Guard had been activated and the U.S. military sent planes, he said.
President Donald Trump on Saturday declared the fires a major disaster, freeing up federal funds to help residents and businesses harmed by the fires in seven counties pay for temporary housing and repairs.
Mr. Berlant said more dry thunderstorms were forecast through Tuesday and so-called red flag warnings had been issued across much of the northern and central parts of California during a record-breaking heat wave that has baked the state for more than a week, caused by a dome of atmospheric high pressure hovering over the American Southwest.
Meteorologists say that same high-pressure ridge has also been siphoning moisture from remnants of a now-dissipated tropical storm off the coast of Mexico and creating conditions rife for thunderstorms across much of California.
Most of the precipitation from the storms evaporates before reaching the ground, leaving dry lightning strikes that have contributed to a volatile wildfire season.
Since Aug. 15, more than 500 fires of varying sizes have burned throughout California, scorching 1.2 million acres, or 1,875 square miles. Of those, about two dozen major fires were attracting much of the state’s resources, the Associate Press reports.
Most of the damage was caused by the three complex fires. They have burned 1,175 square miles, destroyed almost 1,000 homes and other structures, and killed five people, three of whom who were found in a home in an area under an evacuation order.
Other casualties included ancient redwood trees at California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods, plus the park’s headquarters and campgrounds. Smoke from the fires made the region’s air quality dangerous, forcing millions to stay inside.
Officials surveying maps at command centers are astonished by the sheer size of the fires, Cal Fire spokesman Brice Bennett told the Associated Press.
“You could overlay half of one of these fires and it covers the entire city of San Francisco,” Mr. Bennett said Sunday.
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
This story was reported by Reuters.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.