Democrat states have plundered these towns for coal for decades - now they're leaving workers high and dry by switching to green energy

Red state coal towns and cities which power swathes of America face a reckoning as the country pivots towards clean energy.

Experts warn cities like Colstrip, Montana, which is home to one of the country's most polluting coal-fired power plants, must replace their coal power with green energy – or face economic ruin.

But adapting to demands for clean power is only half of the problem.

Colstrip and other plants like it send power worth hundreds of millions of dollars to West Coast states like California and Washington. But Democrat leaders are now signing off on their own wind and solar plants to bring their energy supplies in-house.

That means even if towns like Colstrip replace their coal power plants with green alternatives, they won't enjoy the same demand as before.

The Colstrip Steam Electric Station has been at the heart of the Montana city's economy for decades, but Colstrip faces a reckoning as America moves away from coal-generated energy

Colstrip is a case in point for the troubles facing dozens of coal towns. Few deny the environmental harm wrought by coal - but few support closing down power plants which are the economic lifeblood of their communities.

Around 500 miles south of Colstrip near Rock Springs, Wyoming, a coal mine which supplies the massive Jim Bridger power plant recently laid off a dozen workers. The plant is switching part of its operations to natural gas power, a less harmful alternative.

Those devastating job losses are common in the dwindling coal industry. 

U.S. coal demand and production has fallen from 1.3 billion tons a decade ago to 870 million tons in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

U.S. coal mining employment has also shrunk by half over that period to about 40,000 workers, according U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures reported by the Associated Press. 

E. Mark Curtis, an economist at Wake Forest University, said: 'In places like Texas or in the middle of the country where there's a lot of solar and wind, fossil fuel communities are relatively well positioned to take advantage of renewables.'

'Coal communities generally don't have that, especially when you think about Appalachia,' he told the New York Times.

For decades, states like California were happy to send millions of dollars eastward to states like Montana in exchange for coal-generated electricity.

But as the Golden State has moved towards clean alternatives, its lawmakers have also worked to keep new energy facilities - and the power they generate - inside the state.

Around 500 miles south of Colstrip near Rock Springs, Wyoming, a coal mine which supplies the massive Jim Bridger power plant recently laid off a dozen workers

That has left cities like Colstrip, and their workers, feeling like they've been left high and dry.

Plants are also under threat from clean air policies introduced by the federal government.

The issue reached a head this week when new rules issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lowered thresholds for the amount of toxic chemicals which coal plants can emit.

It will cost Colstrip Power Plant an estimated $500 million to comply with the new EPA rules – an amount investors might be reluctant to pay. Analysts believe the companies which run the plant may decide it's not worth it.

Around 320 of Colstrip's 2,000 residents work for the plant. Its closure would devastate the city.

Dozens more coal power plants in the United States are also under threat as the nation moves further towards clean energy.

The Biden administration has attempted to mitigate the damage by promising hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for projects aimed at turning coal towns across the country into green energy hubs.

Projects include a plant in Weirton, West Virginia, which will produce materials used in clean energy infrastructure. Another is a wind turbine manufacturer in Vernon, Texas.

Jim Atchison, leader of the Southeast Montana Economic Development Corp, said: 'I hope that we have coal in Colstrip for another 15-20 years'

'The same communities that were once thriving coal mining and power plant towns will now be at the center of our clean energy economy,' Biden said in October. 'They deserve it.'

But in Colstrip, city leaders are divided over the inevitable switch away from coal, whether that happens sooner or later.

The city's power plants were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, power is transferred as far away as Washington state, Idaho and California.

Official figures reveal the remaining plant is one of the biggest carbon dioxide emitters in the country, putting out nearly 11 million tons in 2022.

Jim Atchison, leader of the Southeast Montana Economic Development Corp, advocates for the local coal industry but also accepts the need for new, clean energy sources if Colstrip is going to survive the green transition.

'We have one horse in the barn now. We need to add two or three more horses to the barn,' he said.

But Atchison also rejected the idea coal could be immediately removed as a power source. Federal data shows coal powered 16.2 percent of energy generation in the US in 2023. Natural gas remains the country's number one fuel to generate electricity.

'Power needs are going up dramatically around the country, so to be talking about getting rid of fossil fuels or coal is just not in the works right now, it's just not going to happen,' Atchison told Fox Business.

'I think and I hope that we have coal in Colstrip for another 15-20 years and frankly we need it.

'I have never been more excited about the future of Colstrip and the southeastern part of our state than I am right now because of the opportunities that are coming and includes coal and other energy opportunities.'

He said climate activists have been 'trying to shut us down for many, many years and they have hurt us' with their campaigning.

Steam rises from the Miller coal Power Plant in Adamsville, Alabama on April 13, 2021. The plant is America's largest greenhouse gas emitter - but also crucial to the area's economy

'There's a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of blatant lies about coal and energy and some of these rural areas,' he said.

A 2023 report published by the Harvard Kennedy School said that 'closing coal mines and plants poses significant economic and social challenges to the people employed there, their communities, and the economies of the wider regions in which they live'.

'Helping coal regions develop high-quality, secure employment alternatives will be critical not only for realizing a 'just transition' to a low-carbon economy for these regions, but also for accelerating global progress on climate change,' the report said.

Experts have also noted that the replacements for coal plants – including solar and wind farms – often require far fewer permanent workers, meaning many jobs will still be lost.

The people who live and work in these coal towns are all too aware of the predicament they are in.

Jennifer Chesser lives a stone's throw from the James H. Miller Jr. Electric Generating Plant, the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the country, in West Jefferson, Alabama. The plant employs many of the town's 500 people.

'It's a double-edged sword for me,' said Chesser. 'It's harming the planet but at the same time, it helps us because it's what's making our living. So I'm torn.'