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The Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary wrapped up its first Coal in the Classroom program in the Raleigh County public schools with a field trip this week.
 
By The Associated Press
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BECKLEY, W.Va.  -- The Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary wrapped up its first Coal in the Classroom program in the Raleigh County public schools with a field trip this week.
 
Its pro-coal curriculum was piloted at a private elementary school last year.
 
On Tuesday, Stratton Elementary School's fourth-grade class traveled to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine for a firsthand look at an underground mine.
 

The following guest editorial by Hal Quinn is scheduled to appear in the Oct. 27th edition of USA TODAY in response to the paper's editorial on mountaintop mining. - L. Popovich

Seeing the Full Picture of Mountaintop Mining

Hal Quinn, president and CEO, National Mining Association

There are several ways to see mountaintop mining in Appalachia, but critics see only one - it's the picture of big shovels extracting coal in rugged terrain. What they don't see are the 80,000-plus jobs in a half dozen states throughout Appalachia that are tied to surface coal mining.

Officials from West Virginia University joined industry and other state government officials this past Friday to dedicate the university’s newest addition, a simulated underground coal mine that will be used to train mine rescue teams, new miners and others about the conditions in underground operations.

New WVU President Clements and other WVU officials officially dedicated the football field-sized facility in a grand opening ceremony.

West Virginia's economy depends on coal

I join in support of thousands of West Virginia residents requesting the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Obama Administration to approve the pending mine permits that have been put on hold. West Virginia's economy depends on coal. During this national recession, West Virginia needs to be producing coal in order to keep families working.

Association chief urges West Virginia’s to support state’s coal miners
 
West Virginia’s coal industry injects more than $7 billion dollars each year into the state’s economy. More than $2 billion of that is in payroll for the state’s active coal miners. Another $1 billion is paid in various taxes each year by the industry.  The remaining $4 billion reflects the overall investment of the industry in the state through equipment purchases, service contracts and other transactions. It does not reflect indirect economic contributions, such as our annual sponsorship of the Friends of Coal Bowl football game between Marshall University and West Virginia University.

This is an “update” to the earlier notice and is intended to draw attention to the Corps of Engineers’ public hearing in Knoxville, Tennessee since there is a need to attract a crowd in the state where their U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander has introduced legislation in Congress to do away with surface mining.  While there are a limited number of companies mining Tennessee coal there will likely be a large crowd of opponents at the hearing.
 
Friends of Coal are joining with the Eastern Coal Council to assist Dan Roling of National Coal Corp. in Tennessee and Chuck Laine of the Tennessee Mining Association in an effort to get as many coal supporters as possible to Knoxville.  The Eastern Coal Council has a bus leaving from Norton @ 1:p.m. Tuesday, October 13th.  People can park their cars on the Magic Mart’s parking lot near the guard rail. The bus will stop at United Coal’s office in Blountville to get folks from the TriCities area and then travel to Knoxville.  We will be joined by the TN people and then travel to the Convention Center.
 
 If you have questions or need additional information, please call Barbara or Marsha at 276-964-6363.
Barbara’s cell 276-970-5580 Marsha’s cell 276-210-7514.
 
We would appreciate anyone and everyone who could make the trip to support our brothers and sisters in Tennessee.  The Knoxville hearing will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center at 7:00 p.m.
 

The Coalition for Mountaintop Mining (www.mtmcoalition.com) will hold its next meeting October 8 beginning at 9 a.m. in the upstairs conference room of the Forbes Center at Northgate Business Park in Charleston. The meeting is scheduled to last from 9 a.m. to approximately noon.  Please plan to attend.

The Friends of Coal and the West Virginia Coal Association will have representatives and booths at two upcoming events – the annual Rocket Boys Festival in Coalwood, West Virginia on October 3, and Coal Appreciation Day at the West Virginia University of Technology in Montgomery on October 7. 
 
In addition, the West Virginia Coal Association and the Coalition for Mountaintop Mining are completing arrangements for additional Coal Forums to be held during October and/or early November in Wheeling and Martinsburg.  These events will provide the opportunity to educate the public in areas of the state not normally thought of as part of the coalfields about the role of coal in their communities.

Representatives of the West Virginia Coal Association and Friends of Coal were on hand earlier this month for the annual Bluefield Coal Show.  The event, which ran September 16-18 featured a range of exhibits and speakers. It was once again a huge success and is rapidly becoming one of the marquee events of the year for the coal industry.

The Kanawha Valley Mining Institute will hold its next meeting October 1, 2009 at the South Charleston Ramada Inn beginning at 6:30 pm.  Guest speaker for the event will be Kevin Strickland, MSHA Administrator.

The Summersville Chamber of Commerce and Rotary will join with the Friends of Coal to host a Business/Coal Forum Tuesday, September 29 at the Summersville Armory. This forum will feature an up-to-date discussion by prominent business and coal officials of relevant issues impacting area businesses.  Join us to understand issues such as Cap and Trade legislation, EPA's action on new mining permits, severance taxes, and issues surrounding Mountaintop Mining Practices. The event will begin at 5 p.m. It will feature a wide range of guest speakers including representatives of the industry, state and local elected officials, union officials and others. Former WVU and Marshall football coaches Don Nehlen and Bob Pruett will be on hand as well.

This week, EIA reported that U.S. metallurgical exports for July were down only 1.3%, as compared to July of last year.  Also, comparing July 09 to July 08, steam exports were off by more than 55% while imported coal was down by 21%.  Year-to-date comparisons of 2009 to 2008 for the period of January through July, showed metallurgical exports off by 27%, steam exports down by 38% and imports off by 28%.

MSHA’s second quarter report of U.S. production shows there were 1,157 coal mines with some production of coal.  Of this total, 322 (28%) were publicly-owned and accounted for 75% of the production, while 835 (72%) were privately held and produced 25% of the year’s output.  Nationwide, in the second quarter of 2009, 68.7% of production came from surface mines with the remaining 31.3% being underground mined.

EIA’s preliminary release of the Annual Coal Report 2008 shows that the U.S. has more than 261 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves, about 235 years at today’s consumption rate of 1.1 billion tons annually.  America has more coal reserves than any other country, with 27% of the world’s reserve base.

Preliminary information recently released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), documents the important role coal plays in promoting America’s economic strength through the provision of a large, affordable and readily available supply of energy.  The data show 2008 U.S. coal production at a record level of approximately 1.17 billion short tons, up 2.2 percent from 2007. Fifty-eight percent of production was from the West and 42 percent from the East. The number of mines increased from 1,374 in 2007 to 1,458 in 2008, a 6 percent increase. The average sales price per ton was $31.26, up 21 percent from the previous year.

In an apparent confirmation of the potentially heavy costs of pending climate change legislation, an internal U.S. Department of the Treasury memo last week conceded that a cap and trade law could cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year. At that upper end, said Treasury officials, the per household cost could rise to $1,761 annually – equivalent to a 15 percent tax increase! The memo was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by a conservative think tank and the Obama Administration dismissed the memo as "unofficial."  Activist groups argued the analysis did not weigh benefits from slower global warming.

Last week, Governor Manchin told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce meeting in Washington, that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology deserves a financial commitment commensurate with coal’s 50 percent share of the U.S. electricity market.  He said, "If 50 percent of the energy is produced by coal, then proportionately, there should be that type of effort going back" into CCS technology development.”  He called for, “monies collected through carbon credits or carbon taxes should help finance CCS technology projects.”  Governor Manchin, the incoming chairman of the Southern States Energy Board, joined with Senator Rockefeller in calling on Congress to step up funding for the development of CCS technologies that will provide sustainable energy and employment. Manchin warned that cap and trade would add substantial costs to coal use, and would "drive down our industrial jobs."

The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety & Training announced on Thursday that all 180 underground mines that were required to have an approved emergency shelter within 1,000’ of the working face are in compliance.  More than 300 shelters are in place across the State.  In a similar note, a nationwide survey recently completed by NMA, indicated the industry has spent more than $800 million to comply with the requirements of the MINER Act of 2006.  According to the survey, $91 million was spent for more than 150,000 new self-contained self-rescuers (SCSR) and 907 emergency shelters cost $90 million.  Sealing of all abandoned areas, as required by the law, cost $89 million, and $86 million has been spent on tracking systems and related Emergency Response Plans.

Both underground mines and coal suppliers have been removed from the final rule on source categories required to report their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to EPA. The September 22 rule is designed to inform EPA of emissions from major domestic sources. The agency said it may ask for additional sources to report at a later time pending further review of comments and reporting options. An estimated 85 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions from about 10,000 facilities are covered under the rule. Since downstream users of coal would be included in the reporting requirements, NMA had argued that including coal operations would amount to double counting of emissions. The final rule is posted on EPA’s website but has not yet been published in the Federal Register.

W.Va. man on verge of bass fishing Super Bowl
Top five finish this weekend will send Charleston native to pro fishing event in Ala.
Daily Mail staff
Courtesy photo
 
Charleston native Jeremy Starks, seen with his Bass Cat fishing boat sponsored by Friends of Coal, is set to compete this weekend in Sandusky, Ohio, for a shot a the 2010 Bassmaster Classic in February.
 
NASCAR's top drivers have started the Chase, the series to determine the stock car racing league's champion.
 
It's similar for bass fisherman Jeremy Starks, who is preparing for the windy challenges of Lake Erie as he gears up for the Northern Open 3, in Sandusky, Ohio, this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday.