Mountaintop removal coal mining provides less than 5% of the United States’ energy portfolio. Eliminating mountaintop removal coal mining, and all of the inherent problems with it, will not only NOT leave an energy hole in our country, it will protect the communities where it would be taking place, preserving the area for other industries to move in. Mechanization of coal mining (mountaintop removal or surface mining), has actually REDUCED miner jobs in Appalachia — underground coal mining provides far more jobs than surface mining.

While many mines are operated by local people, the six largest coal operators in Eastern Kentucky (Arch, Alpha, James River, TECO, Frasure Creek and Gilliam), who are responsible for more than half of production, are all based out of state. Frasure Creek is owned by Essar Group, which is not even based in the United States. Other companies, such as Nally & Hamilton, are based in Kentucky. Such companies should be most concerned with protecting water resources within their own communities; however, based on our recent lawsuit against Nally & Hamilton, they are clearly not concerned.

Coal is often portrayed as an industry that brings wealth to the region. A study, by MACED, determined the revenue generated by coal for Kentucky is $528 million, including the $224 million coal severance tax; however, the SAME study found that coal costs the state $643 million in expenditures. The costs consist of $239 million to address the industry’s impact on the coal haul road system, expenditures to regulate the environmental and health and safety impacts of coal, support coal worker training, conduct research and development for the coal industry, promote education about coal in the public schools and support the residents directly and indirectly employed by coal. It also includes the $85 million in tax expenditures designed to subsidize the mining and burning of coal. The result is a net negative to the state.

Coal makes up only 1% of statewide employment. That being said, mining accounts for over 10% of total employment in eight eastern Kentucky coal counties (Breathitt, Floyd, Bell, Harlan, Letcher, Leslie, Perry, Pike, Martin, and Knott). To truly put coal employment in perspective, we have to look at unemployment in coal counties. Mining was shown to account for a large percentage of county wages not because mining jobs are so numerous, but because other jobs are so scarce.

You asked what companies would move to the mountains, and I will admit this is a complicated question to answer. Coal has been an economic mainstay for Eastern Kentucky for decades but it is on the decline with economically-recoverable coal reserves diminishing and the rising competitiveness of natural gas. This region’s dependence on coal does not make it strong, rather, it makes it vulnerable to current and future shifts in the energy market. Current and upcoming market shifts may leave Eastern Kentucky no choice but to attract new business; therefore, it would be best to prepare for this change as soon as possible.

We have to recognize that no one single idea or industry will create a stronger economy. An initiative by KFTC and MACED, called the Appalachian Transition, works to support economic diversification in Central Appalachia. The options range from education and workforce development, supporting small-businesses, environmental restoration, health and community based services, telecommunications, renewable energy and energy efficiency, and many other sectors.

To speak to the potential of wind and solar energy, reports indicate that Kentucky actually has enormous potential in these areas:
http://www.maced.org/files/Clean_Energy_Careers.pdf
http://www.maced.org/files/Potential_Impacts_of_REPS_in_KY_Exec_Summary.pdf

Additionally, in a recent study by Downstream Strategies, researcher Rory McIlmoil found that Kentuckians could generate more than one-third of our electricity needs from small-scale distributed energy technologies alone by 2025. There is a webinar being hosted THIS THURSDAY, June 21st from 7:30-8:30 p.m. during which McIlmoil will present and discuss his findings. Everyone is welcome to participate and it is sponsored by Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance.

To speak to the public health concerns that the mining, processing and burning of coal presents, from 2007 to the present, 21 peer-reviewed scientific studies have proven the negative impacts that coal mining has on the economy, ecology, and human health in Central Appalachia. These are the same studies cited in both my colleague’s comments and my original blog. The specific report that you alluded to was a 2011 study titled “Falling behind: Life Expectancy in U.S. Counties from 2000 to 2007 in an International Context”. This report showed that the life expectancy, not mortality rates, in Eastern Kentucky coal counties were comparable to the life expectancy rates of Vietnam.

I find several of the comments made by you and your supporters questionable. First, the coal companies mining coal in Eastern KY are by far and away run by local people to the area. Only Arch in St. Louis is out of the coal fields. Who is mining coal in the region and taking these profits out of the coal fields? Duff, Hoops, James River, Nally and Hamiliton, CAM?

If the “streets should be paved in gold” because of the profits of the coal companys then the same should be so for Detroit, Chicago, Denver or any other large city where industry dominates, however I know of no such paving occuring in any city.

Do you know how much the Coal companys and suppliers give to the regions in which they mine?

Please list for me the companys you believe will move to the mountains and offer employment. UPS, Ford, Toyota, GE? If not these then who, what is your economic plan?

Explain to me the comment made by one of your supporters that Eastern KY mortality rates are “about like Vietnam” I looked up this data, and I am interested in your comments on the data that is available on this claim.

For KY, our climate will not support large energy sources from wind and solar. Hydro and Nuclear have no support in our state due to enviromental issues. What energy source do you believe provides a replacement for coal? What is your energy plan?

Do you believe water quality is impacted in Eastern Ky more from straight pipes or mining, and what data supports your position?

I would be interested in your response to these questions, and the facts that point to your position. I would be happy to answer your questions on where you believe we have overstated the coal positiion. Thank you