West Virginia Coal Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton was the guest Thursday, June 4, on the Mike Queen Radio Show, which is broadcast across the northern part of the state on the AJR News Network - a network covering 14 counties in Central West Virginia. 

Hamilton gave an update on the current status of the coal industry as well as the issues facing it today, and he discussed what he sees as the future of the industry in the region as well as his take on the recently completed 2015 legislative session and the political changes that swept through West Virginia in the 2014 election cycle.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Monday began reviewing EPA's rule that will govern carbon emissions from existing power plants, according to a notice on the agency's website.

The regulation is the centerpiece of the Obama administration's climate agenda, and is meant to prove to the world that the U.S. is serious about taking action on climate change ahead of international talks this December in Paris, despite the absence of resolved science!

OMB's review begins as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals considers a lawsuit seeking to stop the rulemaking in its tracks. That court is expected to rule in the coming weeks, and the judges appear to be leaning toward making EPA's critics wait until the rule is finalized to bring their complaint.  OMB has been reviewing EPA's separate carbon rules for future and modified plants since early May.  All of those rules are expected to be finalized sometime this summer, possibly in August.

Congressman David McKinley (R-1st District) announced his intentions Monday to run for re-election. McKinley had considered a run for governor.

McKinley maintains the state Republican Party was not involved in his decision to stay in Washington. Instead, the Congressman said he and his wife decided to put aside “personal aspirations” and fight for West Virginians who have lost their jobs in the mining industry.  He explained his reasoning in an open letter to the Wheeling Post-Intelligencer this week: “There comes a time to put aside our personal aspirations, to double down a resistance to the policies in Washington that are ill-conceived and destructive to our nation's economy,” McKinley wrote. “The war on coal that led to this recent loss of 2,268 coal mining jobs didn't originate in Charleston; no, it came from the White House. That's where the fight is and that's where I could serve best.

“The tragic loss of 2,268 coal mining jobs made that clear to me. The struggle to save our nation takes place every day in Washington. President Obama's term is for another year and a half. He can still do irreparable harm to our struggling economy and especially our fossil fuel industries. What havoc he has wrought on coal is merely a prelude to his next target: Natural gas.

“President William McKinley once said, ‘Duty determines destiny.’  My duty is to protect West Virginia families from being further victimized by the Obama Administration and the EPA.

“It is time for me to focus on the work ahead of us in Congress. These 2,268 coal mining families need an experienced, tested voice in Washington. Someone not afraid to step away from party affiliation, to stand up to the bullying tactics of an administration which can't grasp the harm its regulations are having on families and businesses.

“Our country must never be allowed to turn its back on our coal industry.

“These 2,268 families deserve better. America deserves better.

 “These are casualties of a war on coal and that war on coal didn’t originate in Charleston,” McKinley said. “It came from the White House and that’s why I think I can serve best is back here in Washington as a member of Congress.”

The first three candidates in the race for governor in 2016 have officially tossed their hats into the ring.  Current Senate President and prominent Mercer County businessman Bill Cole (R-Mercer) announced Tuesday that he will be running for governor in 2016. He is joined by Greenbrier Resort owner Jim Justice, who announced he is running for the Democratic nomination in May and former Senate President Jeff Kessler (D-Ohio), who announced his run for the governorship in March.

Cole, who also serves as the state’s Lieutenant Governor, said he “went to Charleston to try to make a difference. When you consider public service, the question for me is how I can best serve, and in what function and capacity I can best serve.”

 “There is a limit to what can be accomplished legislatively,” Cole said. “In order to complement the extraordinary efforts of our Legislature, we need a chief executive working together through the executive branch to streamline government — to be a partner to those creating businesses — not a roadblock. I believe my lifelong experiences in business as well as my accomplishments as Senate President give me a unique opportunity to lead our state government in a new direction.”

Cole is credited by many for turning the state balance of power to GOP control for the first time in more than 80 years. Republicans took control of the state House and Senate in the November 2014 election.

Justice, who changed his registration from Republican to Democrat at the end of February, promised a campaign focused on jobs and reuniting West Virginia families.

“I tell you there’s something really, really wrong when our families in this state are fragmented all to pieces—and they are. And why?” Justice asked. “Because they can’t find a job. The kids are all gone because they can’t find a job.”

Vowing bold leadership to rebuild the state’s economy, the 64-year-old Justice said he would be a different kind of candidate, a non-politician, who isn’t worried about preserving himself in office.  “I can tell you that our state and our people are hurting and we need somebody to step forward that doesn’t have a vested interest in trying to do something for themselves,” he said. “You need somebody that loves our state and doesn’t want a nickel for doing it.”

In media interviews after his announcement, Kessler said he’s “not going to be afraid to be a Democrat.”  Kessler is embracing his party affiliation.  “We’ve done some wonderful things as Democrats and we’ve run from being Democrats, unfortunately, for the last few cycles,” he told Hoppy Kerchival on the Talkline radio show shortly after his announcement.

Kessler embraces the Obamacare and has also spent considerable time during the recent legislative session speaking on behalf of labor and other Democratic and left-leaning organizations.

In response to Senate Concurrent Resolution 63, (SCR 63), the WV Board of Coal Mine Health & Safety promulgated “Emergency Rules” Governing the Movement of Mining Equipment in Underground Mines which became effective Tuesday, June 2, 2015, as was directed by the SCR. 

The emergency rule revises the Title 36, Series 4 Rule, which has been in effect since 1979, to conform with recent legislative changes made to WV Code 22A-2-6 by the passage of Senate Bill 357.  The revised rule establishes a series of safety precautions which must be employed when moving or tramming underground mining equipment and miners are working inby the move; provides for special safeguards when operating track cleaners or roof bolting in track entries where trolley wire exists and for tramming electrical equipment, transporting mining supplies and disassembled mining machine parts; and, addresses situations where rehabilitation and construction work is performed underground. The rule also restates the statutory prohibition against moving equipment where “energized” trolley wire exists with miners inby.

The Board announced a 30-day comment period extending through June to receive comments on the emergency rule and the WV Office of Miners’ Health Safety & Training will set up regional information briefings on the rule over the next several months.