Here’s why Central Appalachia’s coal industry is dying

This article is a bit "older" but it highlights why the coal industry is dying. Counter to what many pundits and pols like to spout, it is not over-regulation, "[t]he entire U.S. coal industry is under pressure from a variety of forces — from the shale gas boom to coal-plant retirements — and the Appalachian region in particular is getting hurt by trends that have been building for decades."

First, as Patrick Reis reported over at National Journal, coal jobs in West Virginia and Kentucky have been vanishing for decades — long before Barack Obama became president.
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For one, coal mining has become increasingly automated in recent decades, particularly as companies have shifted to techniques such as mountaintop-removal mining, which are less labor intensive.
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Another big problem for Appalachia's coal industry has been competition from cheaper, low-sulfur coal out West — particularly from Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
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On top of everything else, Central Appalachia's coal now appears to be running out, as many of the thick, easy-to-mine seams have vanished.
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And this is all before delving into the pressures that the entire U.S. coal industry is facing. A combination of cheap natural gas from shale fracking and new pollution regulations from the EPA have been elbowing aside coal in the electricity sector.



Here’s why Central Appalachia’s coal industry is dying

explore: West Virginia - Hillbillies, Coal Miners, Treehuggers & God | Link TV

This short film from 2012 did not come across in the stereotypical way one may think based on the title. I found it quite insightful and thankful to the people interviewed for being open about what they hold dear.

Ground breaking for the new school was in Oct 2011 with completion slated for Oct 2012. From the school website it is an obvious success. Besides the Annenberg Foundation's contribution of $2.5 Million, the Marsh Fork Elementary School is funded through the Raleigh County School Board ($3.53 million); Alpha Natural Resources ($1.5 million); the School Building Authority of West Virginia ($3.146 million); and Pennies for Promises, Coal River Mountain Watch ($11,000).

As for Massey (they were bought out by Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources), I know charges were filed both criminally and in civil court.

On April 5, 2010, a massive explosion ripped through Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, leading to the deaths of 29 coal miners. Join host Charles Annenberg Weingarten and the explore team as they enter the heart of Appalachia to meet the community torn apart by the disaster, and learn about their fight to protect the environment and rebuild their way of life.

The heritage of coal mining runs deep in every family in the once-thriving Boone and Raleigh counties, West Virginia. Now going through hard times, every stakeholder has a different belief about coal and how to resurrect the region. But many agree that Marsh Fork Elementary School, sitting below a dam holding back billions of gallons of toxic coal slurry in the town of Sundial, is the site of the next disaster waiting to happen.

explore: West Virginia - Hillbillies, Coal Miners, Treehuggers & God | Link TV