08May

Mr. Bloomberg’s Coal Con

Via The Washington Post: Michael Bloomberg urged the Trump administration to “quit conning coal communities” in his May 3 Washington Forum commentary [“Quit conning coal communities”] , but he failed to follow his own advice. He cited market competition for the decline in coal industry jobs but conveniently omitted the regulatory onslaught that has forced […]
05May

Trump’s EPA: Coal Is A ‘Safeguard’ Against Attacks On Electric Grid

Via The Daily Caller: EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said Wednesday that removing coal production from the U.S. grid would make the country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. “What would happen if we had an attack on our infrastructure when you’ve diverted to natural gas almost exclusively and you don’t have coal there as a safeguard […]
04May

EPA Chief: US Needs Coal to Protect Electric Grid

Via The Hill: The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) argued Wednesday that using coal for electricity is necessary for the reliability of the electric grid. Speaking on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.,” Scott Pruitt warned of the problems of relying too heavily on natural gas, which has increased in use over the last […]
03May

Scary Perry

May 3, 2017 Energy Secretary Perry, usually affable and agreeable, hit a raw nerve last week with his announcement of a report. Not the findings of the report. No. Just the fact that his department would undertake a study of the possible impact that regulations have had on grid reliability. The flustered response to this […]
02May

EPA is Putting American Workers First

Via The Washington Times: When President Trump came to EPA to sign an executive order ending the “war on coal,” he was flanked by Pennsylvania coal miners. Hosting coal miners at EPA headquarters in Washington served as a stark contrast to the past administration, to be sure. President Trump’s action was a moment in which […]
01May

Time to Achieve Balance

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Friday he is pleased a court decision related to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Power Plan will delay any ruling on the initiative until the Trump Administration can review the plan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered […]
01May

Environmentalists, Coal Companies Rally Around Technology To Clean Up Coal

Via NPR: Coal has long had a grip on American politics. That’s why politicians worry about its fate. They tout the fossil fuel’s contribution to the U.S. economy, but lately they’ve also been trying to find a way to clean up coal’s image. President George W. Bush said in his 2008 State of the Union […]
27Apr

Virginia Coal Communities Saved from Costly Plan

Via The Roanoke Times: Childress is the president of the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance based in Lebanon. Many Americans have already forgotten about the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the Obama administration’s signature effort to reduce carbon emissions from the nation’s power plants. But not the nation’s coal communities. They’ve lived with this regulation as […]
24Apr

Coal Important for Toledo and Nation

Via The Toledo Blade: Everyone has their routine, something they do automatically, every day, without thinking twice. For many, it’s turning on the lights, charging our phones, brewing coffee, perhaps turning on the laptop or TV, then driving to work in our cars and trucks, where we grind out most of our day until we […]