It’s obvious, Obama is delivering on his promise to bankrupt the coal industry and several government, corporate, and environmental allies are assisting his effort. To defend its rightful existence, the industry and its allies must recognize it is at war and return fire with all its resources. After all, “to the victor go the spoils.”

In our Republic, an inability to pass carbon control legislation should have been the end of government efforts to force fossil fuel prices higher. If only that were true.

What the President could not achieve through legislation, he is now advancing through the executive branch.

Once again, the [...]

One of the most sensational claims made in the film is that SMCRA’s reclamation requirements – criteria by which mine sites are restored to their original contour, or an intended or better use – contain so many loopholes that coal companies have no responsibility to do a good job restoring old mine sites. This point is notably reinforced by the movie’s many aerial shots of active surface mining operations – Kennedy refers to them as “moonscapes” – which are disingenuously presented as if the audience were viewing the end result.

The thought that companies can ravage scenic landscapes with impunity is [...]

There are some, however, who have resolved to inhibit the production and use of coal and other hydrocarbons. Through burdensome and onerous regulations, they have waged a war on coal. Nowhere is this effort more evident than in the current Administration’s effort to rewrite current surface mining rules under the guise of the new “Stream Protection Rule.” The current “Stream Buffer Zone Rule” – now suspended by the Administration, was the result of years of environmental review, public comment and hearings, and responsible rulemaking. These new proposed regulations would supplant regulations that had been finalized in 2008 after a multi-year [...]