Montana coal. (1976)

This industry-backed, early-energy-crisis documentary argues that America faces looming oil and gas shortages and should bridge the gap by rapidly expanding Montana’s abundant sub-bituminous coal. After dismissing blackout “scare tactics,” it frames coal as the only immediately scalable option while alternatives (solar, geothermal, fusion) mature, citing vast reserves (hundreds of billions of tons), surface-mining efficiency, and a step-by-step portrayal of modern strip-mine methods, preparation plants, and high-capacity draglines. The film touts jobs, tax revenue, and “model” mining towns, spotlights multiple operating mines and their payrolls, and devotes substantial time to reclamation—before/after range shots, university and Forest Service seed-mix trials, wildlife returns—claiming restored lands often outproduce native range. It warns that regulation, high taxes, and permitting delays make Montana coal noncompetitive, locking in decades of lost sales as utilities source elsewhere, and concludes with a call for “sound resource management” and accelerated development: “Mine Montana coal. It makes sense.”

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