08Aug

An Outsized Impact

Coal miners hold a special place in America’s collective consciousness. For years, writers and pundits have tried to identify the reason for coal mining’s importance in the American imagination and American politics. Theories abound. Maybe it’s fascination with work done underground in an atmosphere so foreign from most of today’s over-air-conditioned workplaces? Maybe it’s because […]
08Aug

Coal Production – Study Paints Hopeful W.Va. Outlook

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: While it is unlikely that coal production in West Virginia will ever compare again to those levels that were recorded during the industry’s heyday, there is still hope for the future. There are more coal miners working today in southern West Virginia than there were just a few years ago. Coal production levels also are increasing. […]
07Aug

Coal Industry Still Contributes Big to West Virginia

Via The Daily Mail WV:  As the coal industry continues to rebound, its overall contribution to West Virginia’s economy is nothing short of phenomenal, supporting upwards of 17 percent of the state’s total GDP. According to John Deskins, director of the West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research, the coal industry and coal-fired […]
06Aug

Coal Forum Releases Study of Coal’s Impact on West Virginia’s Economy

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: The Coal Forum, a Charleston-based coal lobbying group, has released a study on the impact of coal on the West Virginia economy in 2017. The study, “The Economic Impact of Coal in West Virginia,” was completed by the Bureau of Business & Economic Research at the West Virginia University College […]
06Aug

America Needs Coal and Nuclear Power for Energy Diversity

Via The Roanoke Times: Porter is a national energy and environmental consultant, based in Atlanta. He was previously an assistant administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In the face of rising electricity demand, Energy Secretary Rick Perry recently unveiled a plan to preserve some of the nation’s key coal and nuclear power plants. It’s […]
01Aug

Coal Retirements Could Be Lethal

Via The Herald-News: There is growing alarm over the loss of America’s baseload sources of electricity. Coal and nuclear power plants are being pushed off the grid by a three-headed monster of heavily subsidized renewable energy, the legacy effects of overzealous regulation and a glut of natural gas. Since 2010, more than 600 coal-fired generating […]
01Aug

Educated in New England

New England: great schools, lovely foliage, terrible energy policy. New England’s self-imposed energy woes should be a warning to the rest of the country. Are we paying attention? New England is an energy-intensive place to live (the winters are no joke), and energy bills show it. Poor policy choices have burdened consumers with some of […]
31Jul

Coal Retirements Could be Devastating for Grid Resiliency and Consumer Costs

Via The Casper Star-Tribune: There is growing alarm over the loss of America’s baseload sources of electricity. Coal and nuclear power plants are being pushed off the grid by a three-headed monster of heavily-subsidized renewable energy, the legacy effects of overzealous regulation, and a glut of natural gas. Since 2010, more than 600 coal-fired generating […]
30Jul

Coal, Nuclear Still Powering Georgia, U.S.

Via The Augusta Chronicle:  Yet that is what we have, not because conventional energy sources aren’t available, but because we have been following an impossible dream that renewables can replace “baseload” power in electricity production. Half the power-generating capacity added in the U.S. last year was solar and wind, according to the Energy Information Administration. […]
27Jul

Cutting Coal Could Mean Less Power, Bigger Bills

Via USA Today:  There is growing alarm over the loss of America’s baseload sources of electricity. Coal and nuclear power plants are being pushed off the grid by a three-headed monster of heavily subsidized renewable energy, the legacy effects of overzealous regulation, and a glut of natural gas. Since 2010, more than 600 coal-fired generating […]