Demand for coal will turn on what Congress does, coal executives tell Virginia coalfield committee

"The demand for Appalachian coal will overcome the current economic slowdown and continue to rise — unless major federal legislation slams on the brakes." That's how The Coalfield Progress summarized speeches by "two major figures in the Virginia coal industry" last week. For the twice-weekly newspaper in Norton, Va., Jeff Lester reported on remarks by Alpha Natural Resources CEO Mike Quillen and Virginia Coal Association President Thomas Hudson.

They spoke to the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority's executive advisory committee three days before the House passed a bill to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. If the bill becomes law, demand for coal will drop, Quillen said.

"Hudson said he opposes the carbon dioxide emissions cap-and-trade system in the legislation, and he opposes any scheme to tax carbon. But if he had to choose one, he said, he’d rather see a straight-up carbon tax," Lester writes. "With cap-and-trade, Wall Street gets involved in emissions trading and takes its 'cut,' helping to drive up all sorts of costs for the taxpayer and electric ratepayer, Hudson said. A straight carbon tax would be more honest and possibly not as costly for ordinary folks. Lawmakers don’t want a carbon tax because that would focus the public’s blame on them, Hudson said."

Quillen also noted what Lester called "increased regulatory pressure" on strip mining, which produces about 8 million tons of Virginia's annual coal production of 30 million tons. The state had about 4,400 coal miners last year, "with roughly 60 percent of them underground, he said. Mining and natural-resource extraction provides the fifth-highest number of jobs in the seven-county, one-city coalfield region, employing about 6,700." (Read more; subscription required)