Related BLS programs | Related articles August 1997, Vol. 120,
No. 8 Coal produced in the Western1 States has increased in
price relative to coal from other regions of the Nation. At the
same time, employment in coal mining has been virtually
unchanged in the Western States, while it has declined in most
other parts of the country. Appalachia is still the countrys
largest coal producer and employer, but a clear westward shift
of coal mining is underway. Much of both the increased price for
western coal and the stability of employment in western coal
mining results from the low sulfur content of the areas coal,
which has increased its desirability, environmentally speaking.
Legislative initiatives, including the New Source Performance
Standards of 19712 and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,3
created incentives for electric utilities to burn low-sulfur
coal. The Nations largest source of such coal is in the West:
the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.4 While other factors
(relative freight costs, labor costs, p