By Chris Hamilton, senior vice president
West Virginia Coal Association
I am writing in response to a recent editorial by the Gazette asserting that coal mining in our area is in decline regardless of who is in the White House. The writer points to declines in mining employment during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush terms as evidence and then proceeds to string together a series of assertions passing them off as facts.
Here are the real facts.
Yes, the number of coal mining jobs as measured by federal statistics has fallen since the 1950s, and even since the 1980s.
But have the numbers really changed or simply the definition of a coal mining job?
Up until 1950, coal companies generally were self-contained businesses. Almost every job related to mining was filled by a direct coal company employee from the actual coal miners to the preparation plant workers, the construction workers, machinists, electricians, engineers, surveyors, truck drivers, carpenters, mechanics and others. They all worked for the company. Many of these job categories worked in and around the mine itself and were therefore considered coal miners.
Starting several decades ago and continuing even to today, many of those support roles are now filled by employees of service companies and are no longer counted as coal miners.
If you compare apples to apples, pulling into the equation the support jobs that were previously filled by company employees, it would be safe to say that the number would likely jump to approximately 60,000. So there has been a decline in the number of jobs, but nowhere near the percentage often cited by the media who fail to take this into account.
Furthermore, it is common knowledge among miners that technological advances in mining have led to acceptable reductions in employment levels as new mining technologies and extractive methods have enabled West Virginia miners to become extraordinarily efficient, safe and reasonably competitive in traditional markets and throughout the world. In short, the same technological forces that are present throughout society have transformed modern coal mining into a high-tech enterprise that is competitive internationally.
Now, back to the war on coal…
Before the economic collapse of 2007-2008, the economy was buzzing. There was an almost unquenchable demand for any and all types of energy and prices for oil, for natural gas and coal were skyrocketing. The collapse of the economy reduced the demand for coal in the U.S. but the fast-growing economies of Asia continued to demand coal and energy and coal continued to see higher prices as a result.
However, our ability to meet that demand was increasingly strangled by the policies pursued by the Obama Administration and the EPA. And make no mistake about it, Obama was in the driver’s seat. The attack against Central Appalachian coal began immediately after he took office in January, 2009, with the EPA tightening the screws in terms of mining permits, and then Obama made good on his promise to bankrupt anyone who wanted to build a new coal-fired power plant, pushing for Cap-and-Trade and then when that failed to make it through Congress, he want after the industry through regulations imposed by EPA.
Where possible, he tightened the screws of existing regulation while adding countless new layers of regulation. Add in the impact of the radical environmental community, who were busy filing sweetheart sue-and-settle lawsuits that allowed the EPA to create law through the courts bypassing the authority of Congress.
The result has been the closure of thousands of megawatts of coal-fired power capacity which has historically been approximately 60 percent of the U.S. coal market. Now we face a nationwide decline in coal demand, and by extension, a policy driven erosion in mining jobs.
This erosion of mining jobs is hitting us hard here at home. Look at the recent unemployment statistics. Throughout the coalfields (especially the southern West Virginia coalfields) unemployment rates skyrocket when coal companies lay people off. Many counties in southern West Virginia are pushing 10-11 percent unemployment today and counties are laying off basic staff such as deputies and teachers because their tax bases are falling.
The reality is clear, West Virginia’s economy depends on coal and many of our counties would likely face bankruptcy if their tax base from coal disappears. Although the plentiful nature of new-found gas shales and the diminishing reserve base of coal have compounded coal’s current problems, make no mistake about it, these factors are not responsible for the nearly 400 coal fired generators that have been forced to close nationally, or that have announced closure this year.
To argue that the Obama war on coal isn’t real, as the Charleston Gazette has consistently done, is simply an effort to deflect blame.