CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ & AP) -- In a report released Wednesday by the Associated Press, Boone County will receive the most money from the coal severance reallocations.

The bill, signed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin Monday, will increase coal severance tax revenue by 1percent per year for the next five years.

The counties who do the most coal mining will get the most money.

The AP reports that Boone County is projected to receive about $3.3 million by 2017.

Marshall County is expected to receive about $2.5 million by the end of the five-year phase-in.

Logan County is third on the list, projected to receive about $2.3 million by the end of that period.

By Shari A. Stout

While searching for the catalog numbers for mining lamps, a collection manager discovered an impressive photo archive shot in 1884

As a collection manager at the National Museum of American History, I often have access to things no one else gets to see, including the mining collection, one of the oldest at the Smithsonian. Recently, I worked with a team to inventory thousands of objects in the museum's Division of Work and Industry. In the process, I cataloged hundreds of mining lamps.

R & D Magazine
... Training and Research (AVESTAR) center consists of two equivalent facilities—one at the Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and the other at West Virginia University's National Research Center for Coal and Energy ...

Read more: DOE Launches Virtual Energy Simulation Training and Research Center

AP

In this March 29, 2011, file photo Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. listens to testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin hit back Tuesday after another Democratic lawmaker suggested that coal was all his state has and that miners should find new jobs.

Following the criticism, Manchin released a letter inviting Conyers to visit his state, highlighting the importance of coal as an energy source in America.

“Without a reliable and affordable resource like coal, America wouldn’t be where we are – whether it’s the steel forged by West Virginia’s coal that then was used to build our great skyscrapers and military, or whether it’s the electricity from coal that today powers nearly half this country,” Manchin said. He added that coal is key to helping the country become independent from foreign oil.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/24/west-virginia-senator-calls-out-dem-rep-for-negative-coal-comments/#ixzz1WKhldIyl

John McArdle, E&E Reporter

DETROIT -- House Judiciary Committee ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.) today said "clean coal" doesn't exist and thatWest Virginia coal miners should switch to other jobs during a speech at the opening session of U.S. EPA's 2011 Environmental Justice Conference.

"From my limited understanding, there is no such thing as clean coal," said Conyers, filling in for EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who had been invited to give this morning's keynote address.

The American public continues to be bombarded by the idea that coal has a future in this country due to powerful special interest groups and regional advocates, Conyers said.