The excellent February 2021 “End of the Line” issue hit home in several ways today as I read Jessica Kutz’s “Life After Coal.” I was halfway through the article when the outbound (read: filled) Union Pacific coal train from the West Elk Mine, east of Paonia, passed only 160 feet from our home. Nothing new, but certainly ironic while reading this important issue with a photo of a filled coal train on its cover.

The coal trains to and from the West Elk Mine are fewer now and not even on a regular schedule, sometimes one round-trip train a day to no trains for a day or two. The writing is on the longwall — pun intended — for the miners, and we hope their transition to new jobs is successful.

Thank you, HCN, for this critical reporting.

Rick Freimuth
Paonia, Colorado

Read More

The fight for an equitable energy economy for the Navajo Nation

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Our articles are available for republishing, but images are only available on a case-by-case basis. You can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request illustrations and photography for specific stories. Republishing guidelines

• Credit the author and High Country News - We prefer Author Name, High Country News at the byline.  At the top of the story, if on the web, please include this text and link: “This story was originally published by High Country News.”
• Check the image requirements - Images that are clearly marked CC or from federal agencies are in the creative commons and are available for republishing. Outside of this, you can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request more information.
• Don’t change anything significant - Articles must be republished in their entirety. Revisions for house style or references to time (“yesterday” to “today”) are allowed. If larger revisions are necessary, including significant trims or an editor’s note, contact us at syndication@hcn.org to get approval for the change ahead of republishing.
• Share on social media - When sharing on social tag High Country News in your post and note the story is from @highcountrynews
  • Twitter: @highcountrynews 
  • Instagram: @highcountrynews
  • TikTok: @highcountrynews
  • Facebook: @highcountrynews
  • LinkedIn: High Country News
• Stay in touch - Let us know you republished the story. Send a link to syndication@hcn.org once you’ve republished the story and let us know how it’s resonating with your readers.

Life After Coal

by Rick Freimuth, High Country News
April 1, 2021

<h1>Life After Coal</h1> <p class="byline">by Rick Freimuth, High Country News <br />April 1, 2021</p> <p><span class="s1"></span><span class="s2">The excellent February 2021 “<a href="https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53.2" target="_blank" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53.2" rel="noopener">End of the Line</a>” issue hit home in several ways today as I read Jessica Kutz’s “<a href="https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53.2/south-coal-the-fight-for-an-equitable-energy-economy-for-the-navajo-nation" target="_blank" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53.2/south-coal-the-fight-for-an-equitable-energy-economy-for-the-navajo-nation" rel="noopener">Life After Coal.</a>” I was halfway through the article when the outbound (read: filled) Union Pacific coal train from the West Elk Mine, east of Paonia, passed only 160 feet from our home. Nothing new, but certainly ironic while reading this important issue with a photo of a filled coal train on its cover. </span></p> <p><span class="s2">The coal trains to and from the West Elk Mine are fewer now and not even on a regular schedule, sometimes one round-trip train a day to no trains for a day or two. The writing is on the longwall — pun intended — for the miners, and we hope their transition to new jobs is successful.</span></p> <p><span class="s2">Thank you, <i>HCN</i>, for this critical reporting.</span></p> <p><em><span class="s2">Rick Freimuth<br /> Paonia, Colorado</span></em></p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=187871">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">Life After Coal</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53-4/letter-to-the-editor-life-after-coal-2/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=121231&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53-4/letter-to-the-editor-life-after-coal-2/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

1