The fight against coal is spilling out of the "environmental" box the coal industry wants to keep it in:

An increasingly vocal, potent and widespread anti-coal movement is developing [across the West]. Environmental groups that have long opposed new power plants are being joined by ranchers, farmers, retired homeowners, ski resort operators and even religious groups.

Activists say the increasing diversity of these coalitions is making them more effective.

"You’re seeing a convergence of people who previously never worked together or even talked to each other," said Anne Hedges, program director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, which is spearheading three lawsuits aimed at blocking construction of the power plant near Great Falls. "They’re saying these coal plants don’t make any sense, whether from an economic or environmental or property-rights standpoint."

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Also check out this great graphic showing the ruin that coal plants would bring us if we build as many as projected.

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