Apr 20 Energy & Environment Mine Workers’ Leader Wants To Save Last Coal Jobs As Biden Tackles Climate United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts said he’s been hearing the term “just transition” tossed around for more than 20 years as part of the long-running, nearly Sisyphean discussion about climate change, clean energy, and coal country. Simply put: he’s not a fan. “I ask anybody who has been uttering those two words […] By Jeff Young Apr 20 Energy & Environment Mine Workers’ Leader Wants To Save Last Coal Jobs As Biden Tackles Climate Jeff Young
Apr 4 Energy & Environment WV Remembers Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster On 11th Anniversary Monday marks 11 years since the Upper Big Branch coal mine disaster in Raleigh County, West Virginia, where 29 miners were killed on April 5, 2010. Federal mine safety investigators determined that a buildup of methane gas and coal dust led to the explosion at the Massey Energy-owned mine. It was the worst mine disaster […] By Curtis Tate Apr 4 Energy & Environment WV Remembers Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster On 11th Anniversary Curtis Tate
Mar 26 Energy & Environment Study Shows Bias, Conflicts Of Interest Among Doctors Who Read Black Lung X-rays Doctors hired by coal companies in black lung cases are far less likely to diagnose the disease in X-rays than are independent doctors or those who are hired by coal miners, a new study has concluded, pointing to conflicts of interest in the system that sick miners use to receive assistance. The doctors who worked […] By Curtis Tate Mar 26 Energy & Environment Study Shows Bias, Conflicts Of Interest Among Doctors Who Read Black Lung X-rays Curtis Tate
Mar 22 Energy & Environment Blackjewel Bankruptcy Leaves Damaged Lands, Miners’ Compensation In Limbo The Blackjewel bankruptcy case has been ongoing since the summer of 2019 when Blackjewel, LLC abruptly collapsed, leaving over 2,000 miners in Wyoming, Kentucky and West Virginia without their jobs, their benefits, or their final paychecks. In protest, Kentucky miners spent much of that summer camped on the railroad tracks to the mine, blocking the […] By Katie Myers Mar 22 Energy & Environment Blackjewel Bankruptcy Leaves Damaged Lands, Miners’ Compensation In Limbo Katie Myers
Mar 10 Coronavirus Coal Mine Safety Regulators Issue COVID Protection Guidelines, But No Regulations The U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday stronger coronavirus safety guidance intended to keep coal miners safe from COVID-19 in the workplace. However, the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration stopped short of issuing an emergency standard — as the mine workers’ union had requested — and instead kept to voluntary guidelines. “This updated […] By Jeff Young Mar 10 Coronavirus Coal Mine Safety Regulators Issue COVID Protection Guidelines, But No Regulations Jeff Young
Sep 11 Energy & Environment Remembering A Miner Who Personified Coal’s Contributions And Costs Charles Wayne Stanley ran underground mining machines for some 20 years, cutting coal from beneath the hills where Virginia meets Kentucky along the Cumberland ridge. He spent another decade as a roof bolter, work that kept the rock above from falling in on his fellow miners. Stanley was 53 when the Ohio Valley ReSource and […] By Jeff Young Sep 11 Energy & Environment Remembering A Miner Who Personified Coal’s Contributions And Costs Jeff Young
Sep 2 Economy Former Blackjewel Miners Could Get More Money From Proposed Settlement A proposed $17.3 million settlement of a class action lawsuit would provide additional payment for hundreds of Appalachian coal miners who were suddenly left jobless by the abrupt bankruptcy of the Blackjewel mining company. The settlement must be approved by the judge overseeing the complicated Blackjewel bankruptcy case. Although it is not yet final, attorneys […] By Jeff Young Sep 2 Economy Former Blackjewel Miners Could Get More Money From Proposed Settlement Jeff Young
Aug 28 Democracy & Civic Life “False Hope” or Four More Years? Ohio Valley Stakeholders Reflect On Trump Energy Policy In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump was all-in on the fossil fuel industry. In a 2016 rally in Charleston, West Virginia, the candidate proudly accepted an endorsement from that state’s coal association, donning a hardhat while he mimed digging coal. To thundering applause, he promised to bring back coal jobs to the struggling Appalachian coalfields. Four […] By Sydney Boles Aug 28 Democracy & Civic Life “False Hope” or Four More Years? Ohio Valley Stakeholders Reflect On Trump Energy Policy Sydney Boles
Jul 28 Energy & Environment Mine Safety Agency Should Do More to Protect Coal Miners in the Pandemic, Oversight Office Finds The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has not done enough to protect coal miners during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from an oversight agency released Tuesday. Through interviews with MSHA officials and union representatives, as well as reviews of state and national policies, the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General […] By Sydney Boles Jul 28 Energy & Environment Mine Safety Agency Should Do More to Protect Coal Miners in the Pandemic, Oversight Office Finds Sydney Boles
Jul 24 Economy “No Pay, We Stay.” A Look Back At Miners’ Protest That Rocked Appalachia It’s a quiet, foggy morning on Highway 119 in Cumberland, Kentucky. A railroad track runs along the highway, and here, Sand Hill Bottom Road crosses the tracks and turns to the right, leaving a rough triangle of gravel spattered with trash. You can hear crickets chirping, birds twittering, cars passing on 119. A billboard advertises […] By Sydney Boles Jul 24 Economy “No Pay, We Stay.” A Look Back At Miners’ Protest That Rocked Appalachia Sydney Boles