Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell has made no secret of his plans, should he win re-election next month, and should he become Senate Majority Leader.

The latter will happen if McConnell defeats Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes and Republicans win a net of six Senate seats in November. McConnell has told audiences and reporters that, if he became Senate Majority Leader, he would seek to defeat President Obama’s legislative agenda by adding language to spending bills that would strip funding from projects the President supports.

A new episode of the Coal Seam television show is now airing. This episode features West Virginia Division of Energy Director Jeff Herholdt discussing current trends and issues related to the coal industry and energy.

The episode will be broadcast through most of October.  It is available on the state Library Television Network at http://www.librarycommission.wv.gov/programs/ltn/videoserver/Pages/coalseam.aspx, as well as your local cable system’s public access channel. Locally it is on Suddenlink Channel 17. 

According to weekly figures released by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), coal production in the United States was up 4.4% for the week ending September 27^th.   Production for the week was up more than 800,000 tons to 19,933,000 tons, from 19,100 tons for the same week in 2013. Production for the previous 52 weeks remains down, by 1.7% or almost 17 million tons, standing at 974.5 million tons.

West Virginia coal production fell for the 52 weeks ending September 27^th by 1.5% at 112.98 million tons versus 114.67 million tons from 2013.  Likewise, coal production in northern West Virginia for the same period was up 6.6% from 2013 to 45.15 million tons, up 2.7 million tons from the same period in 2013. Meanwhile, coal production in southern West Virginia was off 6.2% for the 52 weeks, 67.88 million tons in 2014 versus 72.31 million in 2013.

The Friends of Coal petition to protect America’s coal jobs has now collected more than 10,400 letters of support through our convenient online tool.

The online tool allows you to file your comments calling on EPA to rescind its job-killing regulations that are halting the construction of new coal-fired power plants and essentially forcing the closure of existing plants.  The letters are sent directly to the EPA’s official comments email address.

If you have not already done so, we ask that you visit the out online petition and add your support. You can do so at www.friendsofcoal.org/soundoff.  Do it today!

Also at the Miners’ Celebration, two prominent West Virginia ladies were recognized for their contributions and accomplishments. 

West Virginia’s First Lady, Joanne Yaeger Tomblin, was recognized with the “Educator of the Year” Award which is given to an educator who shows innovation in programs or education related to the mining industry.