Lower production reflects hostile policy, not lack of reserves

Charleston Daily Mail - Commentary

A recent story by Associated Press reporter Dylan Lovan regarding coal production in Appalachia contained enough fact to create a headline, but the facts were lost amidst erroneous statements and distortions.

Lovan asserted that - based on a report by the U.S. Department of Energy and another "study" by a Morgantown-based anti-coal advocacy group - that coal production in the Central Appalachian region is in the midst of an irreversible decline.

Lovan further asserted that this decline is the result of the rapid depletion of quality coal reserves in the region, and that the anti-coal policies being pursued by the Obama administration through its regulatory agencies has little do to with the decline.

by Keith Koffler on October 1, 2011, 10:58 am

It now appears that the Energy Department was something of a haven for Obama fundraisers who wanted to affect policy after the election.

ABC News is reporting that several Obama fundraisers found themselves helping out around the place. Some of them had ties to green energy projects that DOE ended up supporting.

Well known already is DOE’s precipitous and calamitous decision to fund Solyndra, which was backed by Obama fundraiser George Kaiser.

Also known is that another Obama fundraiser, Stephen Spinner, was involved in advising on the Energy Department’s loan program. His wife’s law firm represented Solyndra, but the firm claims she had recused herself from work with the company.

Job creation has been all over President Obama’s lips in the past few weeks, but GOP opponents say his Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory war on fossil fuels is costing the economy far more than the estimated $447 billion price tag of his jobs proposal.

“The President of the United States wants to destroy American energy,” said Oklahoma GOP Sen. James Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee. “His intention is to kill fossil fuels, which we rely on for 99% of the energy in America.

Cliffs Logan County Coal LLC employees, along with members of the Buffalo Creek Watershed and 34 Man High School Student Government students, held a cleanup day Saturday, September 24 in the Buffalo Creek area. The event was part of West Virginia’s REAP Keep WV Shining project. Pictured are participants with their bagged trash collection. Photo/Jerry Fekete

By The Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Gov. Steve Beshear is appealing to President Barack Obama to change federal policies that he says are costing jobs in Kentucky's coal mining industry.

In a letter to Obama earlier this week, Beshear said the EPA is knocking Kentuckians out of high-paying jobs by obstructing the opening of new mines and the expansion of existing ones.

The letter, obtained by The Associated Press, was a follow-up to a meeting last week between Beshear and Obama.

Beshear said the EPA has unduly delayed 75 mining permits in eastern Kentucky that would have created crucial jobs at a time when the nation is struggling to pull out of a national recession.

The governor urged the president to help find a reasonable way to protect the environment while supporting the mining industry.