We should move naturally to new sources as they prove to be preferable and more economically viable without gov’t interference.
We have no idea what new horrors will be alleged in the future against all of the supposed “cleaner alternatives” being pushed today.
No you haven’t. They were growing through at least 2012 when the effects of Obama’s WOC started taking effect.
Washington, D.C. – The number of coal mining jobs nationally in 2011 and 2012 were at the highest level in the last 15 years, contrary to the industry’s oft-repeated accusations that the Obama administration is waging a “war on coal,” according to an analysis released today by Appalachian Voices. Using data from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, the organization finds that the average number of coal mining jobs under the Obama administration is 15.3 percent higher than under the Bush administration.
The group released the analysis prior to Thursday’s scheduled confirmation hearing for the president’s nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy, where the industry is expected to once again attack the agency’s efforts over the past several years to institute public health and environmental protections from coal-based energy.
Read the report: Growth of U.S. Coal Jobs
“These numbers show pretty clearly that the purported ‘war on coal’ is an utter fabrication,” says Matt Wasson, director of programs at Appalachian Voices. “Even as this administration and the Environmental Protection Agency are making some important steps toward controlling coal pollution — from mining, burning, and burying the waste — the job numbers nationwide have been growing.”
While the data show some variations among coal-producing states, each of the top ten has had more mining jobs on average under the Obama administration than under the Bush administration. Nine of those states saw higher coal mining employment in 2012 than at any point during the Bush years.
Wasson attributes this trend to an increase in coal exports coupled with a decrease in productivity, or amount of coal mined per worker, due largely to harder-to-reach coal seams. According to the Energy Information Agency, coal exports in the fourth quarter of 2012 were higher than the previous five-year range. Meanwhile, productivity has declined 30% since its peak in 2000. Increased underground mining explains some of the job increases, as it requires more workers per unit of production compared to mountaintop removal and other forms of surface mining.
The trend is particularly evident in Central Appalachia, where coal mining jobs increased from 28,552 in 2000 to 33,029 in 2012 (+16%) despite total coal production decreasing from 264 million short tons to 147 million short tons in the same period (-44%).
“We continue to hear industry’s cries that environmental regulations are unfair and costly. The fact is, the costs have always been there, only they’ve been borne by the people living in coal-impacted communities who can’t drink their water, who are breathing polluted air, who are suffering from cancer and heart disease,” says Wasson.
Appalachian Voices is an award-winning, environmental non-profit committed to protecting the natural resources of central and southern Appalachia, focusing on reducing coal’s impact on the region and advancing our vision for a cleaner energy future. Founded in 1997, we are headquartered in Boone, N.C. with offices in Charlottesville, Va.; Nashville, Tenn. and Washington, D.C.
WEB: www.AppalachianVoices.org
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TWITTER: www.twitter.com/appvoices
Coal is not competitive with natural gas, period.
Once again.
The costs of Coal have been socialized. There has been a hidden subsidy.
Bring that cost into the price of using it and it doesn’t look that great anymore.
And if those “new” forms of energy are found to have hidden costs, work those into the up front price also.
This isn’t hard.
It most certainly was right up until the new reg’s priced it’s use out of competitiveness.
Nuclear is awesome… except for the waste.
No one wants it transported through their town, and long term storage at sites will always carry the hazards that Fukishima revealed.
Start launching it into the sun, problem solved.
From magical sun rockets at the facilities?
Nope, all the data shows a much longer and more substantial trend.
We have things called trucks and trains that have been used to not only ship nuclear waste but nuclear weapons for over 60 years. You don’t need to launch them from storage sites.
You obviously need to read up on reactor waste.
your data is fallacious.
Coal generation is still profitible for most of those still using it and it was profitable for those using it until the new reg’s and fines priced them out of the market.
Obama: “Hey make sure this stuff isn’t leaking. You don’t even have to double bag your garbage if what you’ve already got is effective.”
Coal companies:OH MY GOD! WE CAN’T TAKE THIS! YOU’RE KILLING US!
Nope, wrong again.
Just what is it you think i need to learn? I’ve been studying the subject for more than three decades since I lived right in the middle of a big part of the mess and a close familiarization with the entire nuclear weapons program up through the seventies and eighties living with people who were part of it.
Obama’s regulations forced the closing of over 140 coal fired plants because of fines and regulatory costs.
Then show me your full plan for the equipment and costs to transport and launch spent fuel into the sun, genius.
How is that even an issue “Genius”.?
The fact is, if we launched it into an orbit taking it to the sun the problem would be solved permanently and it would put an end to decades of costs fighting over both long and short term storage for the future. It would also eliminate any consideration of future environmental leakage.
I have a really small solar powered violin for them.
You seem well versed in handling spent fuel rods, cooling, and the logistical impacts on transportation by land and space! 
