The last week of April (April 28 – May 4, 2013) will commemorate Coal Education Week in the Mountain State, as officially declared by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin.

The Proclamation recognizes the importance of coal in West Virginia from fuel that powered the transformation of the United States during the Industrial Revolution to present day through economic development and diversification resulting in new commercial, industrial, agricultural, public, residential and recreational facilities on land made available through coal mining.

The 2013 Friends of Coal Auto Fair is set for July 19-21 at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Sports Complex in Beckley, WV.  More than 50,000 people from all over the country are expected throughout the weekend to take in the car show, carnival rides, live music, special performance, surprise guests and festival food.  Sponsorship opportunities are available and more up-to-date information can be accessed by visiting: www.friendsofcoalautofair.com

CEC (Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.) has employed Jonathan M. Pachter as corporate vice president and John A. Gefferth as a new principal  and Mining ICG lead.  Both were employees of CONSOL Energy.  Pachter will be headquartered in Pittsburgh and Gefferth will be located in the St. Louis office.  New contact information:  Jonathan Pachter (412) 429-2324 (jpachter@cecinc.com) and John Gefferth (314) 656-4566 (jgefferth@cecinc.com).

It is hard not to believe that the Obama Administration is hell-bent on putting the coal industry out of business forever.

The latest evidence of the Administration's anti-coal bias is the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to issue unprecedented regulations governing new fossil fuel-based electric plants.

These proposed regulations would effectively stop the construction of any new coal power plants by requiring new coal-fueled power plants to meet the same standards as new gas-fired plants.

CHARLESTON – Four Logan County mining operations – Alex Energy, Mingo-Logan Coal Company, Apogee Coal Company and Eastern Arrow – were honored recently for environmental stewardship during the West Virginia Coal Association’s 40^th Annual West Virginia Mining Symposium, held Mar. 6-8 in Charleston.

“We would like to congratulate Alex Energy, Mingo-Logan Coal Company, Apogee Coal Company, Eastern Arrow and the other companies who were recognized for their hard work and responsible reclamation,” said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. “Each of these companies goes far beyond what is required to restore former mine lands. We always say coal miners are the real environmentalists. They don’t just talk about doing something…they go out and do it. They do it because this is their home. We are proud to represent these companies and the 63,000 coal mining families who live and work here in West Virginia.”