The deadline for registering to vote in the November general election is October 14, 2014. This is also the deadline for citizens to change their address or switch political parties. To check your registration or to download a registration form, visit the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website at http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/voterinformation/VoterRegistration/Pages/default.aspx/

Early voting will begins October 22 and runs through November 1. Please make note!   

The Friends of Coal social media network is continuing its unprecedented growth, adding another 1,600 fans over the past 15 days, bringing our total footprint to 85,857 fans. During that period we made 908 posts and received 19,300 incoming comments from 10,100 unique users. In total, we garnered 1 million impressions during the two-week period.

Over the past 90 days we added 17,300 new fans and 319 new Twitter followers. We made 8,600 posts and received 182,500 incoming messages and comments from 109,500 unique users. In total, we garnered 7.8 million impressions during the period.

Our Friends of Coal national page has 35,054 fans and our Friends of Coal West Virginia page has reached 27,775 fans.  We have looked at the demographics of both pages and there is minimal duplication.  We will keep you updated on our efforts.

According to the latest information from the U.S. Energy Information Agency, coal production in the United States was down slightly for the week ending August 24 compared to the same time last year. Production for the week stood at 19.4 million tons compared to 20.1 million tons in 2013.

Coal production for the 52 weeks ending August 9 was also off by 1.7 percent, from 993 million tons in 2013 to 975 million tons this year.  The number of rail cars loaded, however, actually rose by 0.3 percent, from 3,907,444 cars loaded in 2013 to 3,918,168 cars in 2014.

A new episode of The Coal Seam was taped this week featuring West Virginia Department of Energy Director Jeff Herholdt, who discussed the current factors related to coal production, regulation and the state’s energy mix with Coal Seam Host Chris Hamilton. 

Watch for the episode next week. It will be broadcast through most of September.  It is available on the state Library Television Network as well as your local cable system's public access channel. In the Charleston area, it is on Suddenlink Channel 17.

The Friends of Coal petition to protect America's coal jobs has collected more than 8,000 letters of support 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.
If you have not already done so, we ask that you visit the online petition and add your support. You can do so at www.friendsofcoal.org/soundoff<http://www.friendsofcoal.org/soundoff>.  Please do it today - for all of us!