The 17th Annual West Virginia Coal Festival begins in Madison, WV on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 6 p.m. and will end at approximately 11 p.m. on June 19th. Patriot Coal Corp will be sponsoring the Mining Equipment Display which will be available during these times.
May 25, 2010
Mr Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC20500
Dear Mr. President Obama,
The United State of America is a truly wonderful country that we are so blessed to call home. These United States are intended to be exactly that…United. United and equal, treated the same in regards to the law. Not red states or blue states, not states to reward or to shun. Your job as President is to lead this great country in a united front towards progress. Instead, you’re presidency rewards those who supported your campaign and ideas, and punishes those who voted for the other candidate.
No, West Virginia citizens did not vote for you in 2008. In neither the primary or general elections. Why? I believe it is pretty obvious. Your attack on coal, and yes, I said YOUR attack on coal.
A report by the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee of the U.S. Senate indicates thousands of West Virginia jobs are endangered by the EPA’s continuing withholding of mining permits across the state.
According to the report, entitled “The Obama Administration’s Obstruction of Coal Mining Permits in Appalachia,” the EPA’s policies threaten almost 6,000 mining jobs as well as some $217 million in tax revenues for the state. In addition, the report indicates that on a regional basis, the EPA obstruction endangers more than 160,000 jobs.
In fact, the report indicates the EPA’s action is only part of a “broader agenda” to “drastically curtail coal mining in Appalachia.”
According to the report, entitled “The Obama Administration’s Obstruction of Coal Mining Permits in Appalachia,” the EPA’s policies threaten almost 6,000 mining jobs as well as some $217 million in tax revenues for the state. In addition, the report indicates that on a regional basis, the EPA obstruction endangers more than 160,000 jobs.
In fact, the report indicates the EPA’s action is only part of a “broader agenda” to “drastically curtail coal mining in Appalachia.”
By William Yeatman
Just because coal is an inanimate object doesn't mean President Obama's war on coal avoids human casualties. I witnessed the collateral damage to coal-dependent communities on Tuesday at the Charleston Civic Center in West Virginia, where hundreds of people gathered to demand that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spare their livelihoods.
In Mr. Obama's war on coal, the most intensive front has been waged against a particular kind of mining, known as mountain-top removal (MTR). It involves blowing off the top of mountains to get at the underlying coal seams, and it is essential for the Appalachian coal industry's competitiveness vis-a-vis growing production west of the Mississippi. But it is anathema to environmentalists, a major constituency within the president's Democratic Party.