Coal execs hope to spend big to defeat Conway and Chandler

Coal execs hope to spend big to defeat Conway and Chandler
Companies seek to pool funds to defeat chandler, Conway, and delay disclosure
By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com- Wednesday, Jul. 28, 2010
Several major coal companies hope to use newly loosened campaign-finance laws to pool their money and defeat Democratic congressional candidates they consider “anti-coal,” including U.S. Senate nominee Jack Conway and U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler in Kentucky.
The companies hope to create a politically active nonprofit under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, so they won’t have to publicly disclose their activities, such as advertising, until they file a tax return next year, long after the Nov. 2 election.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last winter that corporations and labor unions may pour unlimited funds into such efforts to influence elections.
“With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard,” wrote Roger Nicholson, senior vice president and general counsel at International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va., in an undated letter he sent to other coal companies.
Nicholson declined to comment on his letter Tuesday, after the Herald-Leader obtained it.
“A number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat anti-coal incumbents in select races, as well as elect pro-coal candidates running for certain open seats,” Nicholson wrote. “We’re requesting your consideration as to whether your company would be willing to meet to discuss a significant commitment to such an effort.”
Nicholson listed three races “of interest”: Conway against Republican Rand Paul for Kentucky’s open Senate seat; Chandler against Republican Garland “Andy” Barr in Kentucky’s 6th House District; and Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall against Republican Elliott “Spike” Maynard in West Virginia’s 3rd House District. Read entire article

Massey Says More Mining Inspections Reduce Productivity

Massey Says Increased Federal Mining Inspections Reduce Coal Productivity

By Mario Parker – Jul 28, 2010- Bloomberg
Massey Energy Co., the owner of the West Virginia mine where 29 people died in April, said increased scrutiny from government inspectors reduced productivity at its operations during the second quarter.

Massey’s coal production was about 500,000 tons lower than expected in its deep mine operations due to reduced productivity amid “distractions” from the Upper Big Branch accident, temporary shutdowns and increased inspections, Baxter Phillips, the company’s president, said today on a conference call with analysts.

Massey said in a statement yesterday that shipments during the quarter dropped below its projections by about 1 million tons, of which 700,000 tons were lost due to lower productivity and temporary shutdowns. Three export shipments were delayed to July from June, accounting for about 220,000 tons of the shortfall, the company said.

“Certainly investor focus is on Massey’s ability to focus on this year’s tragic events and achieve their targets in what could be a very robust coal market,” said Michael Dudas, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. Inc. in New York. “They’re set up to do so, but with anything in Central Appalachia it’s going to be a challenge.”

Massey rose 65 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $30.30 at 11:38 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 45 percent since the fatal blast on April 5.

Earnings Report:

The coal producer yesterday reported a net loss of $88.7 million on costs associated with the disaster and lowered its sales estimate for the year. Massey lost 88 cents a share, compared with a profit of $20.2 million, or 24 cents, a year earlier, the company said.

Massey, based in Richmond, Virginia, took a pretax charge of $128.9 million in its second-quarter and first-half results for the accident. Read entire article.

Massey’s Don Blankenship: No shame, but plenty of blame

Massey Energy’s Blankenship:  No shame, but plenty of blame
By Dana Milbank- July 25, 2010- Washington Post
If Don Blankenship had any sense of shame, he’d crawl into a mine and hide.As CEO of Massey Energy, he has presided over a coal company that had thousands of violations in recent years, leading up to the April explosion that killed 29 of his miners. The company now faces a federal criminal investigation into what the government has called negligent and reckless practices.But Blankenship must have no sense of shame, because he visited the National Press Club last week to complain about “knee-jerk political reactions” to mine deaths and to demand that the Obama administration lighten regulations on his dirty and dangerous company. “We need to let businesses function as businesses,” an indignant Blankenship proclaimed. “Corporate business is what built America, in my opinion, and we need to let it thrive by, in a sense, leaving it alone.” Read entire article.

Massey Energy’s Don Blankenship: In the Hot Seat Again

 Massey Energy’S Don Blankenship: In the Hot Seat Again

 Liz Judge- July 21, 2010- Earthjustice
Tomorrow (July 22), Don Blankenship, the notorious chairman and CEO of Massey Energy, speaks at the National Press Club. We’ll be live blogging to make sure you all get the play-by-play — which promises to be interesting at the very least if Blankenship’s previous speaking engagements are any indicator (we live-blogged at his public debate with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in January in Charleston, WV — check it out here).
As you may know, an explosion April 5 at the Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia killed 29
miners. It was the deadliest coal mine explosion in the United States in 40 years.
The federal investigation into the explosion revealed that Upper Big Branch and other Massey mines had a grave history of safety violations. Upper Big Branch had more than 100 mine violation citations from the U.S.Mine Safety and Health Administration this year alone. Many former Massey mine workers told reporters the mine was plagued with air flow problems, and some said that they felt Massey put mining over the safety of its workers. Read entire article.

Europe Proposes to End Coal Mining Subsidies by 2014

Europe Proposes to End Coal Mining Subsidies by 2014
By JAMES KANTER- NYTimes
It has been one of the most acrimonious debates in memory for officials at the European Commission, the executive body that runs the European Union. Should the commission allow nations to subsidize unprofitable coal mines to preserve jobs and help vulnerable regions? Or should it halt the aid to show the European Union’s commitment to reducing dependence on fossil fuels?
On Tuesday, in a preliminary victory for environmental groups and for green-minded regulators, the commission said that cash handouts for loss-making coal mines should end within four years — by Oct. 15, 2014 — rather than being allowed to continue for more than a decade as originally planned.
The decision, if approved by the European Union’s 27 governments, would mainly affect mines in Germany, Spain and Romania.
Debate over the measure had raged for weeks, with Connie Hedegaard, the union commissioner for climate action, and Janez Potocnik, the commissioner for the environment, leading efforts either to kill the initiative or to shorten the amount of time that aid would remain available.
“I’m satisfied with this outcome because it guarantees that the aid will stop soon and be stopped while this commission is still in office,” Mr. Potocnik said.
The tussle over subsidies for the coal industry in Europe was also seen as a sign of how difficult it would be to phase out government support for fossil fuels, even in the most industrially advanced parts of the world. Read entire article.

Top GOP prospect won’t seek Byrd’s Senate seat

Top GOP prospect won’t seek Byrd’s Senate seat
Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010- By LAWRENCE MESSINA – Associated Press Writer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The top GOP prospect for the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s seat said Wednesday she won’t run, leaving the state’s Democratic governor the clear favorite as his party looks to keep its Senate majority in November.
Republican U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito announced she would not enter the race a day after popular Gov. Joe Manchin launched his campaign to fill the remaining two-plus years of Byrd’s term. The filing deadline for candidates is Friday.
West Virginia GOP Chairman Doug McKinney said he has not heard from any Republican seriously weighing a bid and noted that a candidate would likely need to raise several million dollars quickly to mount a credible campaign.
Two Democratic challengers to Manchin stepped forward Wednesday: Ken Hechler, a 95-year-old former congressman and secretary of state; and former Monongalia County lawmaker Sheirl Fletcher.
The primary will be Aug. 28. Fletcher is an ex-Republican who ran against U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., in the 2008 primary and attracted less than 15 percent of the vote in a three-way race.
Hechler said he filed so voters can weigh in against the controversial strip mining method known as mountaintop removal that exposes coal seams through large-scale blasting. Manchin is a champion of the state’s coal industry, which considers the method highly efficient. Read entire article

Coal Lobby files suit against EPA

Coal Lobby files suit against U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
July 21, 9:32 AM- Clay County Environmental News Examiner– Tammy Rose|
The coal industry lobby has a filed suit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency to challenge President Obama’s administration’s stated plan to take steps toward setting limits to govern the environmental impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining.
Lawyers for the National Mining Association, filed the suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, are challenging EPA’s more detailed review of Clean Water Act permits for surface mines and the agency’s new guidance for controlling “conductivity” pollution from mountaintop removal operations. Read entire article.

Activists Stop Strip Mining Machine on Coal River Mountain

Breaking: Activists Stop Strip Mining Machine on Coal River Mountain

Published by Sparki, July 14th, 2010

“It was usually around July you could go up there and sit and it was like the annual bear gathering up there… The whole area was full of laurels. The bears had tunnels through them, it was so thick…What’s going on today you know with the Brushy Fork of course, that whole area has just about been stripped out now, and that’s all been taken away.” Ed Wiley on Coal River Mountain.

MARFORK, W.Va. – Protestors associated with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice have locked to and shut down a highwall miner on Coal River Mountain today. Colin Flood, 22, and Katie Huszcza, 21, are locked to the mining equipment on Massey Energy’s Bee Tree Surface Mine, near to the Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment.  Their banner states “Save Coal River Mountain” alongside images of ginseng, a morel, a deer and a bear.

The human rights activists locked down in order to bring attention to the many local resources that will be lost if blasting on Coal River Mountain continues. This destruction led the four protesters, including 22-year-old Jimmy Tobias and 20-year-old Sophie Kern, both of whom acted as direct support, to take part in the action. “These mountains are home to some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world and contain a variety of precious flora and fauna including edible and medicinal plants that can save lives, a wide array of extremely nutritious mushrooms, old growth forest and an abundance of deer and trout,” Huszcza said. “Coal River Mountain is priceless.” Read entire article.

EPA finalizes public hearing locations on coal ash

EPA finalizes public hearing locations on coal ash
Published today, along with preregistration information, in the Federal Register:

– Arlington, VA August 30, 2010, Hyatt Regency
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: (703) 418–1234,
http://www.crystalcity.hyatt.com.

– Denver, CO September 2, 2010, Grand Hyatt, 1750 Welton Street, Denver, CO 80202
Phone: (303) 295–1234,
http://www.granddenver.hyatt.com.

– Dallas, TX September 8, 2010, Hyatt Regency Dallas
300 Reunion Boulevard
Dallas, TX 75207
Phone: (214) 651–1234,
http://www.dallasregency.hyatt.com.

– Charlotte, NC September 14, 2010,
Holiday Inn Charlotte (Airport),
2707Little Rock Road
Charlotte, NC 28214
Phone: (704) 394–4301,
http://www.hicharlotteairport.com.

– Chicago, IL September 16, 2010,
Hilton Chicago, 720 South Michigan
Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605, Phone:
(312) 922–4400,
http://www.chicagohilton.com/hotels__hiltonchicago.aspx.

Take Action!

Army Corps sets public hearing over Levee Repairs

Army Corps sets public hearing over plan to use coal ash to shore up river levees
By Jim Suhr- ST. LOUIS (AP) – The Army Corps of Engineers wants to use ash cast off from coal-fired electrical generation to shore up dozens of miles of Mississippi River levees, drawing fire from environmentalists worried that heavy metals from the filler might make their way into the river.
The corps announced the plan last month, touting the injection of a slurry of water, coal ash and lime into 25 miles of slide-prone levees in 200-mile stretch of the river from Alton, Ill., near St. Louis to tiny Gale on southern Illinois’ tip as the cheapest, longest-lasting fix among several options it weighed.
A public hearing on the matter, scheduled Thursday in St. Louis, is certain to elicit questions from environmentalists who consider the use of coal ash — also known as fly ash — a bad idea despite corps assurances that it has been used trouble-free on levees near Memphis for more than a decade.
“This is an emotional issue with some people,” Alan Dooley, a spokesman for the Army Corps’ St. Louis district, said Tuesday. “But we are looking for a more permanent way of fixing the levees. We’re looking at public safety and best use of taxpayer dollars.”
Various studies have suggested the ash — a remnant of coal-fired power plants and long used in making roads and cement — contains arsenic, selenium, mercury and other substances defined as hazardous, and may be closely linked to cancer.
The corps has said clay used to build the levees more than a half-century ago wasn’t strong enough to last long-term, its significant shrinkage at low moisture levels allowing for the formation of cracks that fill with water from precipitation, weakening the embankment. Read entire article.