CHARLESTON – At no time in our history has strong, effective proven leadership been more important than today. West Virginia is truly lucky to have one of the strongest and most effective leadership teams in the nation – “West Virginia's Team” of Sen. Joe Manchin and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.

West Virginians for Coal, the Coal Association’s political action committee, is proud to endorse Sen. Manchin for a full term as our U.S. Senator and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin for a full term as our governor.

Manchin and Tomblin have worked together over the past decade to build a strong economic foundation for our state – a foundation that has weathered the worst recession our nation has experienced in nearly a century. Their strong, financially responsible, common-sense, aggressive leadership has carried us through our nation's financial crisis. 

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WASHINGTON -- A delegation from the Citizens for Coal, Friends and Families of Coal and The COALition traveled to the U.S. Capitol Thursday to show support for the "Stop the War on Coal Act." Citizens for Coal President Roger Horton, co-chair of The COALition, Citizens for Coal Vice President Dennis Adkins and Friends and Families of Coal Activist and House of Delegates candidate Joshua Nelson, made the trip to Washington and participated in a news conference after the House overwhelmingly passed the bill.

The bill, which combines several previously passed House bills into a single bill that would essentially bring the Obama War on Coal to an end, now goes to the U.S. Senate, which has refused to consider the bills individually to this point.

Horton, Adkins and Nelson served notice on the Senate and on President Obama to pass the bill and bring the War on Coal to end, or they would marshal their support groups to take their refusal to act door-to-door and hold them accountable for their inaction.

Alpha Natural Resources announced its affiliates’ mine rescue teams took top honors at the Southern West Virginia Mine Rescue Association Mine Rescue, First Aid, Bench & Preshift Contest and West Virginia State Championship. Forty-two teams competed in the event held August 27-30 at the MSHA mine academy in Beckley, W.Va.

The first day of the event focused on first aid. The teams were given problems and had to solve them while following proper procedures. The teams were then put to the test with two days of mine rescue scenarios and tests. Teams from West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Alabama participated.

The National Mining Association (NMA) and several other key trade associations filed an amicus curiae brief on Monday in Mingo Logan Coal Co. v. EPA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (appeals court).  The brief requests the court affirm the lower court’s favorable decision, which held unequivocally that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has no authority to retroactively veto Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).

A group of coal miners, their families and friends will be having an interstate rally to support the coal industry on Saturday, September 29, 2012 starting at 10:00am in Lawrence County, Ohio. The miners will caravan from West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia to Lawrence County, stopping briefly in Charleston and Huntington to add folks to the caravan.

The group will begin the day at 7 a.m. in the Logan WalMart parking lot off US 119 at the Fountainplace Mall. A rally and picnic in Ohio will follow a day of campaigning. If you are interested in going, please contact Shaun Adkins via the Miners for Romney Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/terry.headley1#!/events/143701149104754/