Good afternoon, Beacon readers! Mariah Thomas here with your Daily Roundup, and today, we’re traveling to the eastern part of the state, where Rosebud and Treasure counties got word yesterday that the Department of the Interior (DOI) approved a mining plan modification for the Rosebud Mine (pictured below).

That mine, run by Westmoreland, supplies the Colstrip and Rosebud power plants with coal. The expansion will allow access to nearly 34 million tons of coal and ensure more than 300 jobs in the state through 2039.

A Tuesday press release from the DOI and Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) called it the “second-largest federal coal mine expansion approved since the beginning of the second Trump administration.”

The expansion falls in line with Trump administration efforts to “focus on energy independence, rural prosperity and permitting certainty,” carried out in part through executive orders to increase American mineral production and reinvigorate the country’s coal industry, the press release states.

The Rosebud Mine’s expansion has generated controversy since 2019, when plaintiffs sued OSMRE over its authorization of the expansion. That suit raised concerns the expansion would “create a boom-and-bust cycle that ultimately would both harm people working at the strip-mine and power plants, and also leave the local environment too polluted to support the sustainable land uses that preceded industrialization.”

Following that suit, the DOI was ordered to conduct more analysis on the environmental impacts of the mine.

The approval of the modification plan marks the end of the saga. Environmental groups decried the approval, while state officials applauded the decision.

The Montana Environmental Information Center — a group that served as one of the plaintiffs in the 2019 suit over the expansion — posted a statement on its social media from executive director Anne Hedges.

“The federal government is supporting a mine that supplies the dirtiest, most toxic power plant in the nation and driving up the cost of electricity with expensive coal in the name of a fabricated energy emergency.”

Earthjustice similarly put out a press release arguing the mine’s expansion will be detrimental for the climate.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (pictured above) and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines each released statements about the decision. The pair held a roundtable at the mine last year, calling on then-President Joe Biden to “end his war on American-made energy,” per a release from the governor’s office.

Both their statements thanked President Donald Trump and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum for the mine expansion’s approval.

“The Rosebud coal mine supports the Colstrip Power Plant, generating jobs and revenue for our state, so the importance of today’s action cannot be understated,” Daines said. “I look forward to working with the administration on more ways to fight for the future of Made-In-Montana energy.”

Back in June, the DOI also approved a 50-million-ton expansion for Montana’s Bull Mountains coal mine, which is located in Yellowstone and Musselshell counties.

Meet Hazel! She’s a ball of energy and joy, with plenty of personality to spare. Just look at that cute face!

To find out more about Hazel and other pet adoption opportunities at the Humane Society of Northwest Montana go to: www.humanesocietypets.com. To donate to the Humane Society of Northwest Montana, visit the organization’s donation page here.