After President Obama's re-election, one Ohio coal executive laid off 150 workers and blamed the administration's "war on coal."
Times are little better in Virginia. Governor Bob McDonnell has criticized Obama's energy policies as bad for Virginia's coal industry. Today, McDonnell's office sent out a press released titled: "Governor McDonnell Applauds Massive Call Backs and Hiring of Miners by Southern Coal Corporation: Effort will save 500 miners jobs; and another 650 new miners will be hired."
You can read the news coverage here. Or you can get it from the McDonnell press release, in full, after the jump.
Governor McDonnell made the following statement, following the announcement by Southern Coal Corporation of massive call backs and hiring of miners in Southwest Virginia, Southern West Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. The company has worked over the last month with several customers to secure coal orders to be able to save jobs as well as reopen mines closed earlier this year. Southern Coal has entered into a multi-year agreement with one of the nation's largest utility providers, American Electric Power. Jim and Jay Justice, owners of Southern Coal, have been in constant negotiation with officials of American Electric Power to be able to save jobs and restart the mines.
"I want to thank the Southern Coal Corporation, American Electric Power, and Jim and Jay Justice for their proactive work to save jobs and support a critically important Virginia industry. This effort will save 500 miners jobs, and another 650 new miners will be hired as well. That is great news for those miners, their families, and our Commonwealth, as well as our neighboring states of West Virginia and Kentucky. Coal is an important part of our "all of the above" domestic energy strategy. The coal industry powers our economy, and it provides good-paying jobs for our citizens. Again, I want to thank Southern Coal Corporation, Jim and Jay Justice, American Electric Power, and every individual involved in this great example of cooperation in pursuit of job creation. This is a positive moment for Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and our nation's economy.
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There should be a War on Coal. Waged in the name of the rest of the planet. If Germany, which is cloudy and overcast 300+ days a year, can get 55% of their energy from renewable sources...
55% during peak hours on a good day. Let's not mislead here about Germany's solar capabilities, though I'll concede, relatively speaking, that they are far more proactive about energy dependence than us.
And of course, Obama is leading the War on Christmas too, right? I guess neither war is going well, as coal usage continues to be strong, and Black Friday showed a strong increase over last year. A war going that badly usually brings Iraq to mind.
Which brings up a point ...Christmas has very little to do with that Jebus fellow and a whole lot to do with making everyone a sh*t pot of money.
We are really outnumbered in that war, but I think it is winable! Just find some nice shiny objects to distract them, and victory is in the bag.
On the bright side, there won't be a shortage of lumps of coal from the War on Coal to be placed in the War on Christmas stockings of the far right.
The war on coal, the war on Christmas, the war on religion, the war on drugs.... When are we going to get a war on the stupid? I am ready to enlist in that one.
I agree with Uffdaguy (above) - the problem with starting that war is that we're outnumbered . . .
Aren't we in some kind of real war... you know... where people are actually dying? Some place with a -stan at the end...
((seems like the only war the Right won't talk about is Afghanistan))
They don't talk about that war because it reminds people that the last occupant of the White House screwed up that war and started a second unnecessary war.
If there was a war on coal being waged, would this company be hiring? I mean, they can see the same world as the Ohio douchebag; I guess they just prefer to engage with reality.
If a state with a Republican governor is doing well, it's because of the governor. If a state with a Republican governor is doing badly, it's the fault of the President. Simple.
That depends on whether the President is a Republican or not, though.
A republican governor would never do badly with a republican president. Republicans, all stick together, one lies and the other one swears to it
If coal is in fact dropping in popularity for power generation, it is the free market at work. Natural gas is continuing to grow in popularity due to its lower pollution and lower cost. Of course, there are other countries, such as China, who will happily take the coal off our hands, as they are desperate to feed their rapidly growing need for energy from any source. We worry about the supposed Chinese juggernaut, but brownouts and blackouts and power rationing are facts of life there, and coal is a very important part of their energy picture. Maybe Mr. Murray should start looking overseas for new customers.
Burning coal in a traditional boiler releases mercury into the air. Mercury is a classic heavy metal toxin and now contaminates the top-of-the-food-chain fish that people prefer to eat, such as salmon, tuna, and cod.
Mercury pollution is serious enough for pediatricians to warn parents not to feed tuna fish sandwiches to children. Most of the mercury found in fish originated from the burning of coal.
Clean coal boilers do not release mercury, but they roughly double the cost of using coal as a fuel and greatly increase the amount of carbon dioxide produced per megawatt of electricity generated. This is why power generators and coal mine owners complain about EPA regulations -- burning coal cleanly is not nearly as profitable.
When are we going to stop poisoning our air, land, sea, and our bodies with mercury from coal? Don't we have a glut of natural gas today?
The fight over fossil fuels including natural gas is really a fight over money. If we have alternative energy sources that companies cannot charge on a recurring basis, then energy companies for oil, coal and gas will go out of business. What is at stake is billions of dollars that go to foreign countries and their governments, international and domestic energy companies and CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS to politicians. Energy companies have a lot of money for lobbyists to protect the fossil fuel industries. Environmentalists not so much.
It is a sad day when there is a celebration on risking people's lives to get coal that destroys the lives of everyone else. I wish Obama would wage a war on coal!
You probably don't know any coal miners, do you? These men and women are proud to be in this industry and have great pride in their work. Do not belittle them, please.
Proud? Sorry - couldn't resist a little 45 rpm social commentary...
Some people say a man is made outta mud
A poor man's made outta muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said "Well, a-bless my soul"
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion
Cain't no-a high-toned woman make me walk the line
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
If you see me comin', better step aside
A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't a-get you
Then the left one will
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
Black lung, anyone?
Coal miners are among the hardest-working people you will ever meet, and they have historically been treated in a horrific manner by mine operators. When miners tried to unionize and go on strike, mine owners called in the Pinkertons, who literally went out with machine guns and murdered miners and their families. Miners marched on the capitol in Charleston, WV, and in response, the US government sent the army after them, including bombers. They work their entire life, which is usually cut short by mine accidents or black lung, and generation after generation follows their fathers into the mines, knowing the dangers involved, because there just aren't enough educational and employment opportunities in those areas to give them much of an alternative. I lived for years in WV, knew my share of miners, and always admired their courage and work ethic, but also kept hoping that their children would find a way to break the cycle of going into the mines. No one is belittling them, believe me. I wish that every politician, repub and dem, would spend a day in the mines, or on a construction crew, or any job where you do something beside sitting behind a desk. Maybe then they would think twice about cutting social programs, cutting education, and maybe even get some insight about how a great many people in this nation actually live and work.
Well...by that logic, GM, the entire midwest is depressed based upon some lyrics in country songs...
Give them jobs rebuilding our infrastructure and building renewal energy sources because... it is inevitable... if we are to survive on this earth and if the earth herself is to survive...we must stop the widespread use of coal...get these greedy self serving mine owners on board with this inevitability...of which even the mine workers are aware.
This may be off topic, but is anyone else experiencing a solar eclipse? or an upside down smiley face? They need to hire new skywriters.
These kind of stories reinforce my belief that the business people were holding back or suppressing their own profit leading up to election "for the cause" of getting an R in the WH.
Doesn't matter which R, as Norquist says, they just need working digits to sign what is put before them. The lobbyist was trying to tell you. He is trying to stay relevant while everyone is saying step back Grover.
We cannot let lobbyists run this country and I would hope even the T.P. members would recognize that the lobbyists and ALEC and Koch bros. et. al. are trying to convince us all this is THEIR government, not ours.