02May

States Picking Up Clean Coal and They’re Running With It

Via The Washington Examiner: North Dakota’s energy industry can thank the state legislature’s foresight and tax code for its nation-leading push on clean coal technology. The state, which has the most shale oil in the upper Midwest, wants to be able to use carbon capture technology to help it produce more oil through fracking. And state […]
02May

The War on Coal is Winding Down Slowly

Via The West Virginia Record: The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, two weeks after the signing of the peace treaty ending the War of 1812. If British General Edward Pakenham had had a cell phone, or even a beeper, he might have received notice of the treaty-signing before the battle began […]
01May

Voters Tell Washington to Upgrade America’s Coal Fleet

Via The Washington Examiner: Anyone notice that this past winter was particularly cold in the eastern United States? Plenty of families in the Northeast certainly did, and they turned up their thermostats for weeks at a time to stay warm. Now, a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy reveals a surprising fact about the […]
30Apr

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your PR

Last week, while many watched with baited breath as EPA Administrator Pruitt was grilled at hearings on Capitol Hill – more for his travel preferences and security muscle than his policies – an important deadline came and went: the deadline for comment on the repeal of the so-called Clean Power Plan. And it’s ironic that, […]
26Apr

NMA Urges Decisive Repeal of the Costly Power Plan

The Clean Power Plan (CPP) is an enormously costly, agenda-driven regulation devoid of any congressional authorization or meaningful environmental benefit and must be repealed, advised the National Mining Association (NMA) today in comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The trade group representing U.S. coal, and mineral producers and mining equipment manufacturers urged EPA to […]
25Apr

Metallurgical Coal Exports Up Double-digits in 2017

Via The Pittsburgh Business Times: Not every part of the coal industry is hurting. While thermal coal has seen better days, metallurgical coal — the kind used in the steel-making process — has seen a strong uptick in production and sales. The boost in metallurgical coal is due in large part to the amount of exports, which […]
25Apr

When It Isn’t the Ships but the Fleet that Sinks

There’s a sudden change in the wind, and it isn’t spring. In the space of a week, far-sighted officials at FERC, at the Department of Energy and in Congress have shifted attention away from saving First Energy’s plants to saving the grid’s reliability. Under assault is the lazy assumption held by the “do-nothing” faction that […]
24Apr

Winning Victories for Coal Under Trump

Via The Hill:  Few American business sectors get as strong a defense from President Trump as the coal industry, both in his rhetoric and his policy. As a presidential nominee, he repeatedly pledged to work to revive coal’s fortunes, presenting himself as the “last shot for the miners.” “They want to be miners, but their jobs […]
20Apr

U.S. Coal Exports Increased by 61% in 2017

Via U.S. Energy Information Administration: Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Quarterly Coal Report, and U.S. Census Bureau The United States exported 97.0 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2017, a 61% (36.7 MMst) increase from the 2016 level. Exports to Asia more than doubled from 15.7 MMst in 2016 to 32.8 MMst in 2017, although Europe […]