Note:
Mitchell S. Rosen, The Increasing Conflict Between State Coal Severance Taxation and Federal Energy Policy, 57 Texas L. Rev. 675 (1979).
 

Abstract:
Escalating prices and dwindling supplies of oil and natural gas have caused America’s energy planners to pay more attention to low sulphur bituminous coal. Realizing that these coal resources represent vast sources of potential wealth, many coal-producing states, most notably Montana, have enacted or increased severance taxes on the production of strip-mined coal. While beneficial to Montana, the severance tax harms consumers in other states. As the price of coal to these consumers rises, the demand for coal will drop. Congress, however, has expressed an energy policy favoring lower energy prices and a sharp increase in environmentally responsible coal production. This note explores the constitutional issues inherent in this conflict. The note concludes that congressional action is needed to properly effectuate the national energy policy and to prevent coal-producing states from extorting exorbitant sums from states whose coal needs far outstrip their coal supplies.