Trump's Rollback of Coal Rule Electrifies Wyoming workers

By Meade Gruver (AP) GILLETTE, Wyo. –This hardscrabble Wyoming city of about 30,000 people proclaims itself the "Energy Capital of the Nation" on the mayor's blue blazer and even the parking ticket payment boxes.

Nearby are some of the world's largest open-pit mines, where dump trucks the size of houses haul out more than 40 percent of the coal produced in the U.S. The windy, wide-open landscape around Gillette also has substantial reserves of natural gas, oil and uranium.

So when President Donald Trump lifted a federal coal leasing moratorium and ordered a review of greenhouse gas regulations, the announcement electrified many workers here who depend on fossil fuels for their livelihood. After years of layoffs and corporate bankruptcies, they are optimistic that jobs and a better economy will soon return.

"It's not all rosy right now. But anytime you can see the future and know that the United States, you know, is working with you rather than against you, that alone is nice," Gillette Mayor Louise Carter-King said. She predicts the community will "come out of this bigger and better than ever" thanks to clean-coal technology and overseas exports.