The Friends of Coal’s educational and outreach efforts continue this week when the organization hosts a tour of area mining operations for students from Washington & Lee University of Virginia on Tuesday, September 2nd.

The group will be hosted by Board members Andrew Jordon, Ben Hatfield and Bill Raney who will take them to visit the Tyler-Morgan facility, which features not only examples of mining and reclamation but also has been incorporated into Joint Base West Virginia, a multi-model, multi-site training facility for the National Guard and other Department of Defense components.

This site continues to be a perfect example of the many wide and varied uses former mine sites – and even current operations – are being put to through effective partnerships between the industry, government and private enterprise. 

A repeat of last winter's deep freeze could lead to electricity blackouts in a clutch of states spanning the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic as proposed environmental regulations propel a switch toward natural gas-fired power.

PJM Interconnection, a regional grid operator, proposed new measures aimed at ensuring it doesn't again flirt with losing 22 percent of its electricity capacity as it did during the "polar vortex" in early January. Echoing the concerns of Republicans and some centrist Democrats who have admonished the Obama administration for rules that would restrain the use of coal-fired power, PJM noted the situation could become more dire under a "rapid transition" from coal to natural gas.

Alpha Natural Resources is sponsoring the “Scramble for Scouting Golf Classic” on September 22, 2014 at Berry Hills Country Club to raise funds for the Boy Scouts of America Buckskin Council’s mentoring and outdoor education programs.  MORE THAN EVER, AMERICAN FAMILIES NEED SCOUTING’S POSITIVE INFLUENCE.  There are a number of raffle/auction items you can win at this event:  Hole-in-One Contest for a BMW X3 28i; foursomes at about every golf course in the area; airline tickets within the Continental U.S.; golf accessories, just to name a few.   There are two flights: 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., shotgun starts.  Lunch will be provided for both flights at noon.  A registration form is available from sdavison@wvcoal.com.

The deadline for registering to vote in the November general election is October 14, 2014. This is also the deadline for citizens to change their address or switch political parties. To check your registration or to download a registration form, visit the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website at http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/voterinformation/VoterRegistration/Pages/default.aspx/

Early voting will begins October 22 and runs through November 1. Please make note!   

The Friends of Coal social media network is continuing its unprecedented growth, adding another 1,600 fans over the past 15 days, bringing our total footprint to 85,857 fans. During that period we made 908 posts and received 19,300 incoming comments from 10,100 unique users. In total, we garnered 1 million impressions during the two-week period.

Over the past 90 days we added 17,300 new fans and 319 new Twitter followers. We made 8,600 posts and received 182,500 incoming messages and comments from 109,500 unique users. In total, we garnered 7.8 million impressions during the period.

Our Friends of Coal national page has 35,054 fans and our Friends of Coal West Virginia page has reached 27,775 fans.  We have looked at the demographics of both pages and there is minimal duplication.  We will keep you updated on our efforts.