The Economic Impact of Coal-Based Energy Development in Western North Dakota

The article discusses the energy crisis of 1974 which had a special meaning for residents of the Northern Great Plains states. The current energy situation provides considerable incentive for the development of the region's oil and oil shale, natural gas, uranium and coal ? especially coal. Coal-based industrial development was likely to have a dramatic impact on the economic structure of western North Dakota. The purpose of this report was to describe probable changes in gross business volume, employment, population, and income associated with various levels of prospective coal development. The article addresses different alternatives policies: a limitation of coal development to that level necessary to meet regional energy demand development of Northern Plains coal resources to meet both regional and national demands; extensive development of coal resources to meet growing demands in the face of assumed major reductions in oil imports, assumed major restrictions in natural gas imports from Canada, and an assumed major lag in nuclear generating capacity. Gross business volume, employment and population are addressed