…Anytime coal’s cost to America is discussed, the coal industry reflexively talks about what an economic lifeline it is for the states in which it operates. Headwaters Economics, a Bozeman-based think tank focusing on natural resource issues, has a solid new study that’s getting national attention for undercutting those claims. For instance, the Headwaters study finds that “fossil fuel production has not insulated energy-producing states from fiscal crisis,” that “fossil fuel extraction has a limited influence at the state level on economic indicators such as GDP by state, personal income, and employment,” and that “the volatility of fossil fuel markets poses obstacles to the stability and long-term security of economic growth in energy-producing regions.”…
