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Coal mining

The current coal boom doesn't mean the industry will fire up production anytime soon

by Justin Hicks
Jun 10, 2022
The price of coal has risen due to a surge in global demand. Still, signs point toward a continued decline for the U.S. coal sector.
David Byrd looks out over a large pile of coal in his backyard. He sells the pieces to customers for heating or to blacksmiths who need a higher quality than what power plants typically use.
Justin Hicks/Louisville Public Media
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Coal use rises as natural gas prices spike

by Andy Uhler
Jul 7, 2021
Long term, coal isn't a good option as an energy source. But the competition between coal and natural gas is what matters now.
Although the U.S. and other developed nations still use carbon-heavy coal in electricity production, the industry is declining.
Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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Biden's pitch: tackling climate change will create lots of jobs

by Samantha Fields
Apr 23, 2021
But will it create them where oil and coal jobs have been lost?
"A solar job being created in California does not replace a coal economy job in eastern Kentucky," said one expert.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
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Shelf Life

When coal miners can't breathe, getting compensation is an uphill legal battle

by Chris Hamby
Sep 2, 2020
In his new book, journalist Chris Hamby describes miners' struggles to receive the health benefits they've been promised.
A coal worker near Welch, West Virginia, in 2017. Miners who are stricken with black lung disease often face obstacles in their efforts to receive benefits.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Murray Energy is the latest coal mining firm to declare bankruptcy

by Scott Tong
Oct 29, 2019
The decline in coal-fired power plants began with older facilities about a decade ago. Now even younger plants are being retired.
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Coal mine standoff in Kentucky moves to negotiation between parties

by Scott Tong
Sep 12, 2019
Miners and mine owner have begun negotiations to break the deadlock in Harlan County.
Unemployed Blackjewel coal miner Chris Lewis shows his tattoo as he participates in a blockade along the railroad tracks that lead to one of Blackjewel's mines on August 08, 2019 near Cumberland, Kentucky.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Nation's fourth- and sixth-largest mines shut down

by Scott Tong
Jul 2, 2019
Two of the largest coal-producing mines in the United States were closed down without warning.
Coal falls from a conveyor belt in 2016 in Price, Utah.
George Frey/Getty Images
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Coal boss threatened to shut mines following safety complaints

by Scott Tong
Apr 8, 2019
A secretly recorded speech by Murray Energy boss is at center of a legal dispute.
Robert Murray (L), chairman of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp., listens to a colleague after the evening news conference at the command center where it was announced that rescue efforts to drill relief holes to six coal miners trapped 1,500 feet beneath the surfaces are going slower than expected at the nearby Crandall Canyon coal mine on August 9, 2007 near Huntington, Utah.
David McNew/Getty Images
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Trump’s promises have some coal miners optimistic — so they’re staying in the industry

by Reid R. Frazier
Dec 27, 2017
While some coal miners continue looking for work in the industry, others look to careers outside of coal for more stability.
Low natural gas prices will likely continue to keep the coal market weak. Above, a coal mound in Shelbiana, Kentucky.
Photo by Luke Sharrett/Getty Images
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There's no giving up on coal in Greene County, Pennsylvania

by Erika Beras
Dec 1, 2017
While there's plenty of money for free job training in health care and trucking, local workers pack coal classes instead.
Students sit in a miner training class at a career center in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Erika Beras/Marketplace
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