The Energy Report
States Consider Cuts to Mine Safety, Coal Taxes
Legislation in Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia related to mine safety laws and coal taxation policies is showing how far Appalachian lawmakers will go in attempts to sustain the ailing industry.
Read MoreBankrupt Coal Companies Dodge Liabilities and Distribute Bonuses
Three major U.S. coal companies have filed bankruptcy and are grappling with their liabilities to restore sites after mining and their obligations to employees, past and present.
Read MoreControversy Shrouds Coal Ash Cleanup
In March, the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality held hearings across the state to solicit stakeholder comments on the cleanup plans for North Carolina’s 33 Duke Energy coal ash impoundments. The state also lifted do-not-drink warnings from households with contaminated wells near coal ash ponds.
Read MoreDon Blankenship Sentenced and other news briefs
A former CEO of a coal mining company receives a historic criminal sentence, Atlantic Ocean spared from drilling, new study shows West Virginia is flatter due to mountaintop removal coal mining and other energy briefs.
Read MoreCoal Export Market Evaporates
In 2011, the nation’s three largest coal companies bet billions of dollars on future Chinese demand for steelmaking metallurgical coal, a primarily from Appalachia. When Chinese demand fell, so did the Appalachian coal export market.
Read MoreRegional Solar Updates
North Carolina ranked second in solar growth for 2015, and a Virginia solar project is moving forward after an initial roadblock from state regulators.
Read MoreMajor Coal Companies File for Bankruptcy
Both Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources are undergoing bankruptcy. Alpha was allowed to issue nearly $12 million in executive bonuses, even while it tries to avoid paying some retirees’ life insurance and health benefits.
Read MoreMercury Rules Survive Supreme Court Setback
Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had not properly considered the cost to industry of its mercury emission regulations, a panel of federal judges have allowed the agency to move ahead.
Read MoreScientists Review to EPA Fracking Report
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board raised questions about the scientific basis of a report by the agency on fracking.
Read MoreClean Power Plan Clears Legal Hurdle
Challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan are now going through the legal system.
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