After some thinking and some provoking and Blues last post - this blogger has declared outright war on the coal industry. If you bring hostility to this blog, be prepared to meet the same. I was naive in thinking we could talk about this like grownups. This is a war and the time for talking [...]

Changing a water filter in Prenter, WV (video courtesy of Coal River Mountain Watch):

One brilliant solution Coal Companies have come up with for expelling coal waste (slurry) is pumping it into abandoned underground mines. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that eventually it will get absorbed into groundwater…. and thus into [...]

Selenium, a byproduct of Coal mining, is being found in alarming levels in the Mud River…. thus poisoning the native fish population.  
From the Associated Press:
“Selenium pollution from a Boone County mining operation is poisoning fish in the Mud River, leading to serious deformities, according to a biologist’s report.
A. Dennis Lemly prepared his report on behalf [...]

I’m curious if we can even talk about mountaintop removal coal mining without ripping each others throats out. I just don’t understand. Why does it have to be a hostile subject? Why can’t we voice our opinions on either side without worrying about someone throwing rocks? I don’t normally bash anybody - well except maybe [...]

Beth Walker… Mrs. Walker is married to Mike Walker, brother of Steve Walker.
The top three names on their (friends of coal) slate will be John McCain, Shelley Moore Capito, and Beth Walker and the election of Walker would give them three Friends Of Coal and the majority on the WV Supreme Court.West Virginia Blue: Sludgeroots
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Mike [...]

I saw this on my Yahoo homepage the other night and couldn’t believe my eyes. Big Oil is investing in clean energy technology.
Billionaire oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens plans to invest 10 billion-yes thats BILLION with a B-dollars to build what will be the worlds largest wind farm. His company, Mesa Power, will [...]

Sometimes when I latch on to a topic I just can’t let it go until I have thoroughly chewed it to pieces. I wanted to go back and talk about carbon neutral coal just a little more because frankly it’s leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I’m going to talk about a long forgotten [...]

Well, after the hopeful comments issued at the ASA Conference by Phil Smith, communications director of the UMWA, Cecil Roberts reigned his man in. In an April 13 editorial to the Charleston Gazette, he verified that the UMWA was still staunchly behind MTR workers in their Union. Granted, it is counterintuitive to alienate members of [...]

“We’ve been trying to help schools and young people in West Virginia for a long time and its one of several ways we try to do that by improving the facilities or the educational opportunities or materials they have available,” said Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.
Students Visit Boone County Mine to Celebrate Arbor Day
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Marsh [...]

I couldn’t have read it right. Let’s turn around and read the billboard again. Sure enough, Walker Machinery is promoting clean, carbon neutral coal.
I have a couple of questions. Has the chemistry of coal changed recently? Is there some new type of coal that I have never seen before? Carbon neutral coal would be the [...]