WHITE BLUFF: One of the coal burners.

Reporting from NPR shows how money from the state of Wyoming powers a group that intervened along with Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge so that polluting power plants in Arkansas will keep burning coal, a major Wyoming export.

After years of feuding and lawsuits, the utility Entergy Arkansas Inc. had agreed to shut down two coal plants over the next decade. Weeks later, the Arkansas Attorney General and a local coalition called the Arkansas Affordable Energy Coalition intervened, asking a judge to stop the settlement. They argued that other fuel sources would be more expensive and less reliable.

But emails obtained through public records requests show the coalition represents more than just coal, gas and steel businesses in Arkansas. In fact, it was created by a nonprofit — the Energy Policy Network — whose largest financial contributor most years is the state of Wyoming, home to the coal mines that feed the two Arkansas plants slated for shut down.

Rutledge, of course, backs a light government hand on all forms of pollution. Was she in on the subterfuge here?

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When asked if the AG knew Wyoming funds were behind the effort to keep open two coal plants there, an agency spokesperson responded simply, “No.”

The issue remains under review at the PSC and in federal court.

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