Governor Earl Ray Tomblin officially signed HB 2579, commonly referred to as the Selenium Bill into law during a Wednesday afternoon ceremony at the Capitol,  Below, Governor Tomblin, surrounded by Senators and Delegates who were instrumental in assisting the passage of House Bill 2579, signs the bill into law.  This significant legislation is intended to help protect jobs in our industry.

This bill was approved by 133 of the 134 members of the entire Legislature, because there was one member absent the day the bill was passed. This important bill changes the practices and protocols for monitoring discharges with the objective of collecting meaningful and accurate data that will prompt the development of a more realistic standard for selenium, particularly in situations with flowing water. The existing standard was developed in standing water situations outside West Virginia. The bill takes effect on July 12, 2013.

According to new projections from the U.S. Energy Information Agency, coal will continue to regain market share in electricity generation as its competitive position with natural gas continues to improve.

According to the report, coal generated at least 40 percent of U.S. electricity from November of last year through March, taking a clear lead over natural gas, which a year ago had equaled coal but which is losing some appeal as its cost rises.

According to the MSHA database there were 900 coal mines with some production of coal in 1Q13. A few mines, together likely representing less than 1% of 1Q13 U.S. coal production, have not yet reported 1Q13 production totals to MSHA, so the final results could be slightly higher. Of the total of 900 mines reporting some coal production in 1Q13, EIA reported 296 (33%) active mines that were owned by a public company and 604 active mines (67%) that were privately held. The publicly owned mines produced 75% of U.S. coal output in 1Q13 and the private mines produced 25%.

The Friends of Coal’s direct outreach effort is continuing and in fact is picking up steam headed into the summer months, with several speaking engagements and end of the year state high school championship events through our partnership with the West Virginia Secondary Schools Athletic Commission.

WVCA Executive Committee Member, Jim Bunn, President of Coal River Energy, presented the individual achievement plaque to Matthew Brafford, after his tremendous effort in the State Track & Field Championship in Charleston last weekend.

Our social media campaign’s effectiveness is made evident by the results of a test we performed earlier this year, asking people to go to the White House “We the People” petition site and sign our petition to “stop the war on coal.” We rapidly drew more than the number needed (25,000) to require a response from the White House. The administration’s official response was issued this week.

 

“OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE TO: End to the War On Coal, end the job killing policies of the EPA and require an economic impact analysis of new policies.