MetroNews - May 11, 2011

Speakers from the Appalachian coalfields delivered a scathing rebuke to the federal EPA during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.   The subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment held the public hearing EPA mining Policies; Assault on Appalachian Jobs Part II.

Among those testifying was West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts who told committee members the threat to the West Virginia coal industry through actions of the Obama administration is severe.

WV Gazette
John McCoy

GLEN JEAN, W.Va. -- The head man at West Virginia's New River Gorge National River park minces no words when it comes to the sprawling Boy Scout center being developed nearby.

"This is absolutely a game-changer for West Virginia, and also for the New River Gorge area," said Don Striker, the park's superintendent.

Developers of the Summit Bechtel Family National Scouting Reserve expect it to attract roughly 100,000 people a year to the gorge. Striker expects the influx of visitors to dramatically raise the park's profile.

Wheeling News-Register 

WHEELING - Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has joined a Republican initiative to "heat up" efforts toward a national energy policy.

Capito, R-W.Va., recently stood with Republican leaders to announce the creation of "HEAT," the House Energy Action Team.

HEAT members plan to push the American Energy Initiative - the GOP's version of a national energy policy - which has three goals, according to Capito. She said HEAT hopes to stop government policies driving up gas prices; to expand American energy production to lower costs and create more jobs; and to promote an "all of the above" strategy to increase use of all forms of American energy.

GILBERT -- The technology to convert coal to oil, diesel fuel and gasoline has been around for more than 60 years. During World War II, Nazi Germany ran its economy largely on fuel derived from the coal mines of the Ruhr. Since World War II, the technology has languished in large part due to the availability of cheap oil.  Today, however, as the nation and the world cast a worried eye at the reliability of oil supplies from the troubled Middle East and as the price of that oil has topped $100 a barrel, more and more people are asking why America isn't making better use of its own resources -- such as our plentiful coal supplies -- to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

Enter Transgas ... a company developed to commercialize coal-to-liquids technology.

"We are dedicated to independence, and we have seen in the past 30 years the increase in American dependency on foreign oil,” he said. “To convert coal to gas, we have had the technology for quite a few years and have had the skilled labor for it; yet, for multiple reasons, they have chosen to ignore our country’s assets. This ends today in Mingo County,” said Adam Victor, owner and president of Transgas.

Victor joined local and state political and economic development leaders Monday for the groundbreaking and dedication of a state-of-the-art coal-to-liquids production facility in Mingo County.

The Adams Fork Energy plant will be located on a 300-acre former surface mine near Wharncliffe . Construction is expected to begin in July and be completed in 2015.  It is expected to result in some 3,000 construction jobs during the construction phase, with 300 permanent direct and approximately 1,000 indirect jobs once production begins. The plant is expected to produce 6.5 million barrels (273 million gallons) of synthetic gasoline per year, by converting 2.7 million tons of coal per year. By comparison, the United States uses approximately 20.6 million barrels of oil per day.  The project has been in the works for nearly seven years.

First deliveries of the new state-issued plates will be in the mail next week

CHARLESTON – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin officially delivered the first batch of the new state-issued Friends of Coal license plates during a May 6 presentation in Charleston.  The plate, the first in the state’s history to be any color other than white, is black with white lettering and a white Friends of Coal logo on the left side.  Tomblin unveiled the plate during the joint spring meeting of the West Virginia Coal Association and the West Virginia Mining Institute. 

“I hope these plates will be an ambassador of the state and of the state’s coal industry,” Tomblin said, adding that he hopes it makes people from other states take a moment to think about the importance of the coal industry and the hard work that goes into keeping America’s lights burning.

Warren Hylton, of Patience Coal and one of the founders of Friends of Coal, was presented with the first plate.  Also receiving plates were former Marshall University Head Football Coach Bobby Pruett and former West Virginia University Head Football Coach Don Nehlen, WVCA Chairman Gary White and Association President Bill Raney among others.

“This is a fitting tribute to our working coal miners,” Raney said, “and to every one of those 63,000 West Virginians who work in the state’s coal industry. “