A leading state lawmaker says Wyoming's economy could face a 10-year downturn.

Senator Tony Ross [R-Cheyenne] announced Wednesday that he is retiring from the legislature when his current term expires at the end of the year.

Ross, who is currently co-chair of the legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee and chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said  at his retirement announcement Wednesday that in the 2016 budget session lawmakers tried to work to lay the groundwork to ''get us through what many forecast as a 10-year downturn" in the state economy. Ross added that while he hopes that isn't true, Wyoming's energy based economy faces huge challenges in light of low energy prices.

Senator Ross says he hopes coal- fired power plants will make a comeback when "people see their power rates go up five times." He also cited a New Hampshire coal-fired power plant that is buying its coal from Russia, commenting "that makes no sense."

He said there is also hope that Wyoming coal can expand into Asian markets, especially Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. Ross said many of those areas are currently using low-grade coal from Indonesia.

He says Wyoming coal, by comparison, is much cleaner burning and better fro the environment, especially in terms of global warming. Ross says burning Wyoming coal would reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants in those countries by a third without any other changes being made.

But he noted the challenge right now is finding a way to ship Wyoming coal to those markets, inexpensively.

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