The coal mining business in Eastern Kentucky continues to suffer from record setbacks. The
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet announced this week that coal jobs in Kentucky have dropped to its lowest level since at least 1950, when numbers were first recorded, reports Bill Estep for the
Lexington Herald-Leader.
(Photo: A train load of coal ready to be transported is parked near US 119 in Cumberland. Charles Bertram/Herald-Leader)
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/05/21/2648551/kentucky-coal-jobs-at-lowest-level.html#storylink=cpy
Since September 2011, the state has lost 5,695 coal jobs, or just over 30 percent, with more than 5,500 of those lost jobs from Eastern Kentucky coal mines, Estep reports.
Over the past 18 months, coal production in Eastern Kentucky has dropped 42 percent. Statewide production has fallen 26 percent during that time, and the smaller Western Kentucky Coalfield (part of the Illinois Basin) out-produced the larger Eastern Kentucky field in the first quarter of 2013, producing 10.4 million tons to 10.1 million.
"Eastern Kentucky coal producers face a number of challenges, including
competition from relatively cheap natural gas and lower-cost coal from
other regions in the country, higher mining costs, and tougher rules
aimed at protecting the environment," Estep
reports.
ead more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/05/21/2648551/kentucky-coal-jobs-at-lowest-level.html#storylink=cpy
reports.
We reported on the decline in Central Appalachian coal most recently
here and a recent conference in Eastern Kentucky designed to build a non-coal economy in Central Appalachia
here and
here. For a PDF of the state report on coal production and employment,
click here.