Last Ones Standing

Miners in what was once the nation’s most productive swath of coal country brace for the finish

Photography for Deseret Magazine. Reporting by Natalia Galicza.

Industrial factory at sunset with smoke stacks emitting smoke, hills in the background, and a house with a car parked outside in the foreground.

I spent a few days in Kemmerer, Wyoming reporting on a community that finds itself caught in the midst of the nation’s energy transition. This Spring, PacifiCorp announced plans to convert the nearby Naughton Power Plant, currently burning coal from a mine directly behind it, to a natural gas plant in just two years. Down the highway a few miles, a company owned by Bill Gates called TerraPower is building an advanced nuclear reactor that it hopes will be key to the country’s energy future.

A man with glasses and a red t-shirt sitting in a recliner in a dimly lit room with decorations on the wall and a lamp nearby.
A landscape view of a small town in a valley surrounded by rolling hills during sunset, with a clear sky and distant mountains.
An older man with gray hair and a mustache standing next to a red vehicle with the hood open, in a residential driveway on a sunny day.
Stop sign at the intersection of Carbon Street and Sage Avenue in a rural area with an old house and autumn trees in the background.

An excerpt from reporting by Natalia:

In most other corners of the country, mine closures might be celebrated as a march toward progress, a move in direct compliance with federal mandates to cut carbon emissions and curtail the effects of global warming before it’s too late. But in communities like Kemmerer, it’s also an existential threat. Beyond these fiscal casualties, coal has come to define a way of life, especially for the miners of Wyoming. As the mines shut down, it’s not a matter of if these people will survive, but a question of how. America is moving on. And they will have to, too.

A street view featuring a storefront called 'Sawaya's' with a yellow sign, two pickup trucks parked in front, and a mural on the side of the building depicting fossils and dinosaurs, including a blue T-Rex.
A flock of sheep walking on a dirt road in a rural landscape under a cloudy sky.
A train traveling through a rural landscape during sunset, with rolling hills and utility poles in the background.
A vintage motel sign for the Antler Motel with a sunset sky in the background. There are parked cars and a white truck in front of the motel, along with a small office building to the left.
Industrial factory at dusk with smokestacks emitting smoke and light trails from moving vehicles in the foreground.
Statue of a miner with a pickaxe, decorated with a flower wreath, in a small town park.
A man wearing a gray baseball cap with a dinosaur skeleton embroidered on it and a gray T-shirt with a graphic design of a mushroom and the words
Two men stand on a porch overlooking a small town with autumn-colored trees, mountains in the background, during sunset.
Construction site with large equipment and machinery, set outdoors in a grassy field at sunset, with mountains in the background.
A two-lane country road at sunset with cars traveling in both directions, rolling hills on either side, and mountains in the distance under a pinkish-orange sky.