Wyoming coal community imagines a new future

Jun 3, 2019
The threat of coal plant closures is making Kemmerer, Wyoming, think closely about diversification.
Mayor Tony Tomassi standing on the edge of a small residential community in Kemmerer.
Cooper McKim/Wyoming Public Radio

Undocumented workers in Wyoming struggle to get workers' comp

Apr 8, 2019
Wyoming is the state with the most dangerous workplaces.
Attorney Steven Dwyer said more undocumented workers are seeking his help with cases related to workers' compensation for on-the-job injuries, including one worker who is $17,000 in debt from medical bills incurred after he fell off a roof.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Do "superstar" companies hold down wages?

Aug 24, 2018
This week, central bankers, finance ministers and economists from the around the world flew to the mountain resort of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They’re there for an annual economic symposium hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. One focus of this year’s event is on so-called “superstar” firms like Amazon, which is a half-million […]
An Amazon logo is seen inside the Amazon corporate headquarters on June 16, 2017 in Seattle, Washington.  
David Ryder/Getty Images

Reinventing the rural health care system

Feb 2, 2018
A new report outlines the challenges the health care system in rural communities faces.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Uranium companies in the U.S. are hoping demand will return

Dec 26, 2017
Could there be a uranium boom on the horizon? If there is, it would help coal-heavy Wyoming.
Nichols Ranch Manager Bernard Bonifas reaches into one of the hundreds of tan boxes dotting the landscape at the Nichols Ranch uranium mine. They keep injection and recovery wells insulated during Wyoming’s harsh winters. 
Madelyn Beck/ for Marketplace

Skill shortages hamper fracking operations

Jul 17, 2017
Oil prices are recovering. Oil companies are expanding their U.S. operations. But a skilled worker shortage is not helping.
A billboard off Interstate 25 in southeastern Wyoming.
Dan Boyce/ for Marketplace

Gillette, Wyoming: Industry and politics in coal country

Mar 10, 2017
Under a new administration, this extraction-industry town feels revitalized.
Eagle Butte Mine is one of the many open-pit mines that characterize Wyoming and the western mining industry.
Hayley Hershman/Marketplace

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Imagining the future of coal in Gillette, Wyoming

Feb 23, 2017
As the energy market dwindles, some are finding new uses for coal.
In Gillette, Wyoming, Atlas Carbon is finding new uses for coal.
Hayley Hershman / Marketplace

Why two American billionaires are betting on renewable energy

Feb 8, 2017
Philip Anschutz and Warren Buffett, two of America’s richest moguls, see a greener future for the electric grid.
Philip Anschutz plans to build wind turbines in Wyoming, like these turbines near Palm Springs, California, and sell electricity to the California market.
David McNew/Getty Images

Wyoming's powerful coal industry is facing a downturn

May 16, 2016
Hundreds have been laid off.
A large surface coal mine near Gillette, Wyoming.
PDTillman/Wikimedia Commons