Jay Rockefeller a few months ago lashed out at Republicans, other conservatives, and United Mine Workers of America chieftain Cecil Roberts who claim that the administration has launched a war on coal. He called their claims "scare tactics."
The numbers suggest that the UMWA and Republicans may be right.
According to the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety, and Training, West Virginia's coal production dropped dramatically between 2008 and 2010, from 165 million tons to 143 million tons. By the next year, production had fallen by another four million tons.
Such declines hit the counties most reliant on coal production the worst. Statewide declines in coal production correlate with dropping employment in the retail sector in the southwestern counties, an area heavily dependent upon the health of that region's primary industry.
Between 2008 and 2010, every single county in the southwestern coal fields lost retail employment. Boone and Mingo counties each lost 1/8 of their total. Raleigh County alone hemorrhaged 300 jobs in retail alone.
Federal courts have provided some relief. They have restored EPA revoked permits and slapped boundaries around enforcement of regulations against coal mines and power plants.
But even though bureaucrats lost some battles, don't count on them to give up the war. If Obama wins in November, expect an all out onslaught on the industry.
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