On President Obama’s 100th day in office, L.J. Turner joined with five other grassroots citizens to demand from our Nation's leaders to power past coal. A member of the Powder River Basin Resource Council, L.J. runs the ranch his family homesteaded in 1918, in Campbell County, Wyoming. Strip mines encroach on one edge of his ranch, while oil and coalbed methane development deplete and pollute the water resources vital to his operation. Aquifers have been destroyed and stock water wells impacted.
Here are some of his remarks.
There have been many costs that have come with providing cheap electricity in Wyoming. One that I cannot ignore is the loss of nearly 5,000 acres of federal grazing leases. We received nothing in compensation for this loss.
In Wyoming you question energy production at your own peril because there are too many people whose paycheck depends on energy. For them I can only say that a hundred years ago 98% of the people were in an occupation connected to agriculture. Today, it is 2%. 100 years ago there was no mining in Campbell County. We must not destroy our water and air for profits today and ignore what might be in the future. Our grandchildren will have enough challenges without having to correct what destruction to the environment we allow today.
Mining operations in our area seriously threaten our aquifers that we depend on totally for our livestock and personal use. The ranch has lost 4 wells to mineral development, again, with no compensation for the loss. We have 13 wells still, although 2 of them are showing signs of running out of water. At our house, we now depend on bottled water for our personal use.
The loss of water threatens the ranch’s viability. L.J.’s story is far from unique in the west, as irresponsible energy development scars private and public lands in rural communities. Strip mine pits have displaced grazing cattle and shattered the western landscape’s iconic imagery.
Signs show that the coal industry knows of health hazards.
L.J. is working to be part of the energy solution and is negotiating to develop a utility scale wind farm on his ranch. He is one of many cowboys who have been fighting to keep their way of life for over 30 years.
Watch L.J. in PBS program, Can Coal be Earth-Friendly?
