TVMI Monthly meeting will be held in conjunction with CEDAR on April 23 with social hour beginning at 6 and Dinner served a 7 p.m. at the Logan Convention Center.  Bob Murray with Murray Energy will be the guest speaker.  For reservations please contact Barb Murphy (bmurphy@archcoal.com or call 304.792.8445).

The 2015 Joint Spring Meeting of the WV Coal Association, the WV Coal Mining Institute and the Central Appalachian Section of SME will be held at the Stonewall Jackson Resort, May 13-15, 2015.

The installation of the fifteenth class of inductees to the WV Coal Hall of Fame will be held on Thursday evening honoring Calvin Kidd and L. Newton Thomas, Jr.

Golf tournament on Thursday is also available. Contact the WVCMI at (304) 293-4179 for reservations.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has officially declared the fourth week of April (April 19 –April 25, 2105) Coal Education Week in the Mountain State. Tomblin made the announcement at a ceremony at the State Capitol Monday, April 13, 2015. CEDAR board members, WV Coal Association members and Burch Elementary second grade students were present for the ceremony.

The Proclamation recognizes the importance of coal in West Virginia from fuel that powered the transformation of the United States during the Industrial Revolution to present day through economic development and diversification resulting in new commercial, industrial, agricultural, public, residential and recreational facilities on land made available through coal mining.

By Eric Wolff (SNL)

The U.S. EPA's proposed carbon dioxide rule appears likely to survive its first court challenge, a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit indicated at oral arguments on April 16.

West Virginia and coal producer Murray Energy Corp. argued that even though the rule was still in the draft stage, it was such an unusual regulation that the court should rule. They may have found a willing ear in Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, but Judges Brett Kavanaugh and Thomas Griffith seemed concerned that wading into what they called a routine rulemaking process would open the court to a wave to future challenges.

Federal judges appeared unsure about whether the EPA has legal authority for its proposed greenhouse gas rule for existing power plants, but even more wary about expanding the court’s authority by judging a rule that is not yet final.

Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Thomas Griffith and Brett Kavanaugh heard more than two hours of oral arguments in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in a trio of cases over the EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan. The final rule is expected this summer.