Southern Coal Conference Part Pep Rally, Part Whistling Past The Economic Graveyard
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Part grievance session, part blame-fest, part pep talk and part strategy session on how to tilt federal or state policies to favor coal, with all the recent announcements of governments and utilities planning to shed coal in favor of greener alternatives, and a big new coal bankruptcy filing just last week, this was not a happy gathering. In fact, that energy board session included an on-the-spot anonymous poll of how its participating members view the condition of the coal industry. In a word, they were downbeat.
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Three-fourths expected less coal to be mined in the United States in the next five years, and none thought it very likely or even likely that coal jobs would return to even what they were in the 2000s. Setting the tone, the conference opened with a prayer, offered by John Ragan, a Republican and member of the Tennessee General Assembly: "We ask you especially Lord, your blessings on this gathering. We know there are challenges in this industry and this country that only you can solve. We humbly ask for divine guidance."
Ed. - Here's some divine guidance - try pulling your head out of your collective ass.
Of the 16 states, coal was the most prevalent source of utility-scale electricity generation in 10 of them just a dozen years ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency. By 2017, that number had dropped to just four: Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Nationally, coal lost more ground last year and is expected to decline even more in 2019, according to the EIA, despite President Trump's promise to revive coal mining. EIA forecasts that the national share of electricity generation from coal will average 24 percent in 2019 and 22 percent in 2020, down from 27 percent in 2018.
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22052019/coal-future-southern-states-conference-energy-department-dominion-solar-gas-transition
