May 22 News: Coal Country Jobs At Two-Decade High, But Industry Campaigns Against ‘Job Killing’ Regulations
The coal industry and their Republican allies are looking to bury Obama under coal issues, Politico reports. American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity unveiled video attacks on his coal record the past week, as coal donors flock to Romney, who’s taken $187,750 in campaign cash through March 31. We’ve already debunked the myth that EPA regulations threaten jobs, and the facts do not back the industry’s case for a “war on coal”: While the Obama administration and the EPA may be taking a harder look at mountain top removal mining permits, a quick look at coal mining employment in West Virginia reveals that since Obama took office in the winter of 2009 coal mining employment has grown by over 1,500 jobs or by 7.4%. If we measure from the end of the national recession in June 2009 (or the 2nd Quarter of 2009) to the third-quarter of 2011 (the latest available data), employment in the coal mining industry has grown by 3,100. For comparison, total employment in West Virginia has only grown by 2.9% over this period. Looking over the last two decades, annual West Virginia coal mining employment was higher in 2011 than at anytime over the last 17 years, according to Workforce West Virginia. In 1995, there were 22,669 workers employed in coal mining (SIC Code 12) compared to 22,693 during the first three quarters of 2011 (NAICS Code 2121). If you include coal mining support activities (NAICS 213113) – which are separated out when the Census switched to using NACIS Codes in 2001 – employment in coal mining was at 24,515 in 2011 compared to 22,669 in 1995. Any way you look at it, coal mining employment is at a two-decade high. This all being said, the rise in coal mining jobs has very little to do with the actions of the Obama administration and the EPA. The rise in coal mining employment over this period is due more to the recent spike in coal prices from 2005 to 2011, steady decline of productivity, and the counter-cyclical nature of the energy industry during recessions. While there is a good chance that coal employment will be lower in 2012 do to a decline in customer demand for West Virginia coal – which is reflected in the 2012 drop in coal spot prices – this again will not be related to actions by the Obama administration. As Ken notes in his blog, if we can move past the rhetoric and political confusion regarding the plight of the coal industry in our state we might be able to chart a better economic course for our future. One year after a deadly tornado devastated their city, President Barack Obama praised the residents of Joplin, Mo., for a spirit of perseverance and resiliency that he said could serve as a model for a nation still grinding its way through tough economic times. [ CBS ] The federal energy loan program that has created headaches for President Barack Obama has a Mitt Romney connection. Cathy Tripodi of FaegreBD Consulting lobbies on behalf of Abound Solar, a company that was awarded a $400 million loan guarantee through the same Department of Energy program that aided Solyndra, the now-bankrupt California company that included an Obama bundler as an investor. Tripodi is a bundler for Romney. [ iWatch News ] Israel’s Arava Power said on Tuesday it secured 780 million shekels ($204 million) in funding to build eight medium-sized solar energy fields – the largest financial closing in the country’s solar power industry. [ Reuters ] Environmental advocates were among dozens of witnesses lining up to testify Monday on a bill laying out Ohio’s new regulations for horizontal shale drilling and the use of renewable energy. [ AP ] The leaders of nearly two dozen environmental groups called on President Obama to attend next month’s Rio+20 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, underscoring the uncertainty that continues to cloud the historic meeting. [ Washington Post ]
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May 22 News: Coal Country Jobs At Two-Decade High, But Industry Campaigns Against ‘Job Killing’ Regulations