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Details: May 15, 2013

CONCORD, N.C. – Hillman Racing today announced that the West Virginia Coal Association and the Friends of Coal organization will be the primary marketing partners on the No. 27 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entry driven by Team 7 Motorsports driver Jeff Agnew at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Friday night’s N.C. Education Lottery 200.

Located in Charleston, W.Va., the West Virginia Coal Association is a trade association representing more than 90 percent of the state's underground and surface coal mine production. Its purpose is to have a unified voice representing the state's coal industry as well as increase emphasis on coal as a reliable energy source to help the nation achieve energy independence.

Details: May 09, 2013

In 2011, West Virginia -- the second-largest U.S. coal producer -- accounted for 25 percent of the country's 91,611 coal jobs. By 2012, the number of miners or coal-related workers in West Virginia who applied for unemployment benefits had nearly tripled to almost 6,000.

But not all is lost. Hydraulic fracturing has made tapping into shale gas a viable endeavor, and the losses in coal could be more than made up by the gains in shale. About 3.5 million jobs will be created by 2035 as the United States exploits its shale reserves, a 2012 study by IHS Global Insight estimated

Details: May 09, 2013

In recent years, natural gas has competed more effectively with coal as a fuel for electricity generation as the cost of operating natural gas-fired generators fell below the cost of operating coal-fired generators in some regions, changing the least-cost dispatch ordering of available units. EIA's most recent outlook shows how generation market shares respond to changing fuel prices.

Details: May 09, 2013

According to U.S. International Trade Commission data for Jan-Mar 2013, U.S. coal exports were up 11.2% y/y to 31.8 million tons. Metallurgical coal exports for this period increased 4% y/y to 18.2 million tons. The y/y growth is primarily attributable to thermal coal exports, which were up 23% y/y to 13.6 million tons for the same period. The March 2013 export figure totaled 13.6 million tons, up from 8.6 million in tons in February and represented the single largest ever month for U.S. coal exports.

Details: May 09, 2013

The Association filed comments earlier this week regarding the proposal from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to add streams to the 303(d) list of impaired waters for the State of West Virginia.

EPA published a notice in the Federal Register on Monday, April 8, 2013 in which it proposed adding 255 additional stream segments to the list of impaired waters for the State of West Virginia. On March 25, 2013 EPA notified the state by letter that it was partially disapproving the state’s proposed 303(d) list of impaired waters. EPA’s partial disapproval was based on the state’s decision not to place additional streams on the list of impaired waters for biological impairment using the West Virginia Stream Condition Index (WV SCI).

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