Report gives state-by-state, county-by-county look at decline of Central Appalachian coal industry

Central Appalachian journalists interested in the coal industry have a helpful new source of updated information abut the decline of the industry in the region and the prospects for its future. The report released today by Downstream Strategies, a consulting firm in Morgantown, W.Va., is a "must read," Charleston Gazette coal reporter Ken Ward Jr. writes on his blog Coal Tattoo.

Southern West Virginia has overtaken Eastern Kentucky

The report assembles data from the Energy Information Administration and other sources to explain the factors at work and the counties that appear to be most vulnerable. EIA estimates that coal production in the region is projected to decline 53 percent through 2040, with 86 percent of the decline occurring by 2020. The complete report, which is an update of a report issued in 2010, can be read here.

Vulnerability of counties to influences on demand for coal, by category