Mar 27 Economy ‘There’s Going To Be Something Better for Him’: Former Blackjewel Miners Reflect on Changes in Coal Country On a blistering August afternoon in Cumberland, Kentucky, David Pratt, Jr. stood in the middle of a two-lane highway, holding a sign that read “COAL MINERS AND TRUCKERS AGAINST CORPORATE AMERICA.” A few yards away, his father, David Pratt Sr., who is graying but still muscular, leaned back in a lawn chair perched precariously on […] By Sydney Boles Mar 27 Economy ‘There’s Going To Be Something Better for Him’: Former Blackjewel Miners Reflect on Changes in Coal Country Sydney Boles
Mar 26 Energy & Environment UMWA Wants More Coronavirus Protections For Coal Miners The United Mine Workers of America is asking federal regulators to set uniform, enforceable guidelines to help protect coal miners from contracting COVID-19. In a letter dated Tuesday, March 24, UMWA President Cecil Roberts wrote to the Mine Safety and Health Administration requesting the agency issue a “safeguard” or “emergency standard” that would require coal […] By Brittany Patterson Mar 26 Energy & Environment UMWA Wants More Coronavirus Protections For Coal Miners Brittany Patterson
Mar 23 Energy & Environment Ohio Valley Coal Industry Braces As COVID-19 Impacts Electricity Demand, International Exports As states across the Ohio Valley order the closure of non-essential businesses to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, coal mines will remain open. But as with many industries, the global pandemic is straining the coal sector, and some experts say the already struggling industry could face intense challenges in the months ahead as […] By Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles Mar 23 Energy & Environment Ohio Valley Coal Industry Braces As COVID-19 Impacts Electricity Demand, International Exports Brittany Patterson and Sydney Boles
Mar 1 Energy & Environment Clean Water Wanted: Contaminated Wells And The Legacy Of Fossil Fuel Extraction “You seen that one with the tombstone up there?” seven-year-old Timothy Easterling asks, looking toward the grass just uphill from his home. “That’s my papaw.” Timothy’s grandfather Chet Blankenship died in 2016, at age 69. Blankenship lived on land he and his family have long owned at the end of a road atop Bradshaw Mountain […] By Benny Becker Mar 1 Energy & Environment Clean Water Wanted: Contaminated Wells And The Legacy Of Fossil Fuel Extraction Benny Becker
Feb 26 Health “Lax Oversight” Threatens Health Fund for Miners With Black Lung, Watchdog Finds Just three bankruptcies of American coal companies have added more than $800 million in costs to a federal government program that funds health care for disabled coal miners, the Government Accountability said in a report released Wednesday. The report comes after a 2018 analysis by the same agency which found the Black Lung Disability Trust […] By Sydney Boles Feb 26 Health “Lax Oversight” Threatens Health Fund for Miners With Black Lung, Watchdog Finds Sydney Boles
Feb 21 Energy & Environment Black Lung Benefits Drop For Kentucky Coal Miners After Controversial Law Change Lynn Estel Stanley was the kind of coal mine foreman who wanted to know if there was a safety problem, and would always be the one to go fix it himself. He was also the kind of miner who refused to slow down, even when his men told him he was overexerting himself. But when […] By Sydney Boles Feb 21 Energy & Environment Black Lung Benefits Drop For Kentucky Coal Miners After Controversial Law Change Sydney Boles
Feb 14 Energy & Environment Just Transition: Amid Climate Debate And Coal’s Decline, West Virginia Considers Its Future On a recent soggy Wednesday evening, dozens of West Virginians packed a conference room inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center to discuss the need for a “just transition” for coal-impacted communities. As the nation grapples with climate change, the need for a fair transition for workers and communities that depend upon coal jobs and […] By Brittany Patterson Feb 14 Energy & Environment Just Transition: Amid Climate Debate And Coal’s Decline, West Virginia Considers Its Future Brittany Patterson
Feb 5 Health Scientists, Mine Safety Officials Discuss Black Lung Protections Officials with the Mine Safety and Health Administration met for the first time with miners’ health researchers Wednesday in a new partnership designed to discuss ways to better protect coal miners from the dust that causes black lung disease. In future meetings, representatives from the two agencies will discuss recommendations made by the National Academy […] By Sydney Boles Feb 5 Health Scientists, Mine Safety Officials Discuss Black Lung Protections Sydney Boles
Jan 22 Energy & Environment Bankrupt Blackjewel Coal Still Racking Up Environmental Violations, Officials Warn An attorney for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet told a federal judge Wednesday that the bankrupt coal company Blackjewel has accrued nearly 300 environmental violations since it entered bankruptcy in July. “It’s essential that these violations are addressed, abated, and that they stop accruing,” Cabinet attorney Lena Seward told bankruptcy judge Frank Volk in […] By Sydney Boles Jan 22 Energy & Environment Bankrupt Blackjewel Coal Still Racking Up Environmental Violations, Officials Warn Sydney Boles
Jan 14 Economy More Unpaid Appalachian Miners Stage A Coal Train Blockade For the second time since summer, eastern Kentucky coal miners are blockading a railroad track to protest unpaid wages. The new blockade, which was started Monday afternoon by Quest Energy miners, echoes the months-long blockade by Blackjewel coal miners over the summer and speaks to a growing discontent in Appalachian coal country. “It’s hard to go […] By Sydney Boles Jan 14 Economy More Unpaid Appalachian Miners Stage A Coal Train Blockade Sydney Boles