02Oct

Trump and the End of Obama’s Bitter ‘War on Coal’

Via The Hill: What a difference presidential leadership can make, for good or ill, for an industry’s fortunes. Before he was elected president, Barack Obama promised to bankrupt coal companies, and after eight years of his administration’s anti-energy policies, that pledge turned out to be one of the few promises he kept. Obama imposed regulations limiting coal […]
28Sep

Energy Supply for Our Citizens Must Transcend Politics

Via The Morning Consult: The number of coal and nuclear power plants that have closed in recent years could power tens of millions of homes. In April, Energy Secretary Rick Perry asked for a report on whether continued closures pose a threat, and whether the markets are adequately compensating the resilience benefits these “baseload” or […]
27Sep

Advancing Coal Technologies

September 27, 2017 From all the news coverage it’s getting, National Clean Energy Week appears to be a carefully kept secret, trumped by NFL protests, a Senate primary and Puerto Rico’s dystopia. That’s a pity. Exciting things are happening in clean energy technologies and the global market they serve. Renewables understandably get star billing in […]
27Sep

Attitude Shift from US Government Gives Coal Sector Hope

Via Platts: The US coal industry has hope for its future where a year ago there was not any, according to Bill Raney, President of the West Virginia Coal Association. Speaking Tuesday at the S&P Global Platts Coal Marketing Days Conference in Pittsburgh, attendees highlighted the improved relationship with the federal government, rather than any major policy […]
25Sep

Warmed Again by Coal

Via The Washington Times: Gentlemen, start your thermostats. Ladies, too. The Obama war on coal, which cost Hillary Clinton the vote in once-reliably Democratic West Virginia, is over. Maybe the war on nuclear energy, too. Americans might soon heat their homes without choosing between the warmth and food and medicine. It’s not quite a “so […]
22Sep

Coal CEO Says Trump Made New Mine Possible

Via Fox Business News: Paringa Resources is taking the rare step of building a new coal mine in the U.S., as the Trump administration rolls back regulations on the struggling industry. The coal company is building a coal mine in Kentucky and expects to begin producing coal in mid-2018. It will construct another mine that’s […]
20Sep

The Coal-Terminal Debate: A View From Japan

Via The Seattle Times: It has been more than six years since Japan suffered the devastating earthquake and tsunami that triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The world is well-aware of the massive destruction caused by this unprecedented natural disaster. Perhaps less well-known is that the disaster also radically changed Japan’s […]
20Sep

All the News Not Fit to Print

September 20, 2017 While Washington’s “war on coal” has ended – with this administration’s decision makers taking a fuel-neutral approach to regulation – the New York Times editorial board is nostalgic for the days of politicians picking winners and losers in the energy market. In what have now become weekly anti-coal tirades, the Times picks […]
20Sep

What Happens When the Coal and Nuclear Plants Close?

Via The Houston Chronicle: When future policy makers go back and study the U.S. energy industry in the 2010s, one of the defining trends will be the sudden decline of coal and nuclear plants. Whether this is the beginning of a great new era of American energy or a disaster in the making is the […]
19Sep

Coal-fired Power Plants

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., has introduced a welcomed measure in the U.S. House of Representatives that could help in further boosting coal’s future. The legislation would allow a coal-burning power plant or related facility to retrofit or upgrade without meeting new environmental emission standards. Under the proposed measure, the plant or facility would […]