18Jan

Don’t Overlook the Biggest Protest

January 18, 2017 As the Capital girds for Friday’s Inauguration, the media is focusing heavy attention on the myriad protests that eagerly vie for its fleeting attention. This is understandable; dissident voices should be heard. But while the protesters parade by, let’s not overlook the biggest protest event – the November election. That was a […]
18Jan

Excessive EPA Regulations Harming Coal Industry

Via The Parkersburg News and Sentinel: Speaking as a CEO of a major coal-fired power plant and a coal mining company, I am compelled to start with the devastation of the coal industry, particularly in West Virginia but throughout all coal country. This devastation has been caused by excessive and politicized Environmental Protection Agency regulations. […]
17Jan

Judge Thwarts Obama EPA’s Lawless War on Coal

Via PJ Media: Here’s a radical concept: federal agencies created and empowered by congressional statutes have to comply with those statutes — i.e., they have to obey federal law — in exercising their power. It is a rudimentary concept, of course, but one with which the Obama administration has appeared only vaguely acquainted throughout its eight […]
17Jan

Reminding EPA Of Limits to Power

Via The Wheeling News-Register: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials enjoy enormous power, granted by Congress. They can decide unilaterally that individuals, families and businesses must do certain things to comply with the EPA’s definitions of clean air, water and soil. But there are some limits. The agency does have to explain the justification for its […]
13Jan

Dominion: Lack of Transmission, Coal Shutdowns Bring Blackouts to Virginia Peninsula

Via UtilityDIVE: Dominion Resources will shutter its Yorktown coal plant in April, and afterwards may need to use rotating blackouts on the Virginia Peninsula in order to maintain grid reliability and avoid voltage collapse. The Yorktown’s two units do not run often, and violate environmental emissions standards. They are required to close by law, RTO […]
13Jan

Donald Trump’s Administration Must Keep the Promises Made on Clean Coal

Via The Hill:  A number of new coal-powered energy plants equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology are due to come online across the U.S. over the coming weeks, much to the ire of green activists. CCS technology captures up to 90% of carbon dioxide emissions created when fossil fuels are burned to generate […]
12Jan

Obama’s Interior Dept. Calls for Major Changes to ‘Modernize’ Federal Coal Program

Via The Washington Post: With just days until President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Department of the Interior finalized a report Wednesday calling for major changes to the federal coal program by which the U.S. manages the leasing of land to companies for exploration and production across 570 million publicly owned acres. A year ago, new […]
12Jan

A Steep Price for Ignoring Working Americans

Via TribLIVE: Congress returned last week, just in time to digest a prescient election post-mortem from celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. In a New Year’s Day dissection of his party’s November collapse, Bourdain blamed “privileged Eastern liberals for showing utter contempt” for working-class America. As Bourdain sees it, when media and pop culture figures “mock them […]
11Jan

Great Expectations

January 11, 2017 In the political world, as in the real one, we often experience a frustrating disparity between expectation and reality. The incoming administration and the 115th Congress may prove to be the exception. At least with respect to major regulations that have hamstrung the coal industry. Early signs suggest that House and Senate […]
11Jan

NMA Condemns Administration’s Politically Contrived Coal Lease Policies as Damaging to Jobs, Communities and Taxpayers

Days before leaving office, the Obama administration has once again advocated policies designed solely to destroy America’s coal industry in the face of a political referendum favoring good jobs and affordable energy. Instead of the open and honest conversation promised by the administration on federal coal leasing policies, today’s report predetermines outcomes before the program […]