A very special episode of The Coal Seam television show is airing through the month of September. The show was filmed on location at the July Coal Rally in Pittsburgh. The show includes vignettes of the rally, which included Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin of West Virginia, Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor of Ohio.  Gov. John Kasich was also on hand via a video he sent.  WVCA President Bill Raney and Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton also addressed the crowd of thousands of coal miners there to protest the EPA’s GHG regulations that are shutting down coal-fired power plants and killing thousands of jobs.    

The episode is available on the state Library Television Network as well as your local cable system’s public access channel. Locally it is on Suddenlink Channel 17.

The next episode, with scheduled guest Roger Horton, president of the United Citizens for Coal, will be taped this week. Horton will be on hand to discuss the impact of these regulations on retirees and the communities of the coalfields. He will also discuss the recent merger of United for Coal and Citizens for Coal organizations. The new grassroots group has approximately 7,000 members in 26 states.

The Friends of Coal petition continues to collect signatures to protect America’s coal jobs. The petition has been online for about two months and has already collected more than 9,000 letters of opposition to the rule through our convenient online tool.

The online tool allows you to file your comments calling on EPA to rescind its job-killing regulations that are halting the construction of new coal-fired power plants and essentially forcing the closure of existing plants.  The letters are sent directly to the EPA’s official comments email address.

The comments period closes October 16th.  We need to generate more letters supporting America’s coal mining jobs.

If you have not already done so, please visit the online petition and add your support at www.friendsofcoal.org/soundoff.  We need your help and we hope you will do it today!

The second webinar on the EPA proposed Clean Power Plan will be on September 17, 2014.  EPA has also prepared a video overview of the regulations. It is available at //www.americancoalcouncil.org/link.asp?e=braney@wvcoal.com&;job=1480199&ymlink=2625811&finalurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eyoutube%2Ecom%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DCDJGspRbIA4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDJGspRbIA4. 

Miners, community members and others connected with the state's coal mining industry will gather at Tamarack in Beckley on Thursday, Oct. 2, for the 2014 Miners' Celebration, a gala reception and dinner to celebrate the past, present and future of West Virginia's coal mining enterprise.  According to organizers, the purpose of the annual event is to recognize those who play a role in the success of the state's mining enterprise.

Alpha Natural Resources is sponsoring the “Scramble for Scouting Golf Classic” on September 22, 2014 at Berry Hills Country Club to raise funds for the Boy Scouts of America Buckskin Council’s mentoring and outdoor education programs.  MORE THAN EVER, AMERICAN FAMILIES NEED SCOUTING’S POSITIVE INFLUENCE.  There are a number of raffle/auction items you can win at this event:  Hole-in-One Contest for a BMW X3 28i; foursomes at about every golf course in the area; airline tickets within the Continental U.S.; golf accessories, just to name a few.   There are two flights: 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., shotgun starts.  Lunch will be provided for both flights at noon.  A registration form is available from sdavison@wvcoal.com.