Free Republic

Coal's future as a major energy source is being undermined by market forces, government regulations and moral arguments.

Electric cars hold the potential to destroy the oil business and save the electricity business. The big question now is when this will happen. Last year the world consumed about 93 million barrels of crude oil per day. About 42 percent of that, or 39.5 mmbpd, was used for transportation. In its recent price swoon, oil prices went from over $100 per barrel to under $30 per barrel with a production surplus of 2 mmbpd worldwide. How would the industry fare with a surplus that was seven times greater?

This election season has created an unprecedented alliance between the environmental Left and the anti-free market movement. The result is a well-funded juggernaut adept at conducting coordinated and sophisticated assaults on American businesses while attempting to influence crucial elections. Their goals are nothing short of shuttering our American manufacturing industry, halting the production of affordable energy and placing a ruling clique of radicals in office.One such tactic focuses on intimidating universities and other institutions into divesting their financial holdings of fossil fuel investments. Activists behind this campaign talk candidly about how they hope to “revoke the social license” of energy...

Opponents of the Obama administration’s landmark climate change rule will have to wait three more months to argue their case in federal court. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said Monday that oral arguments in the case over the Clean Power Plan will be held Sept. 27, rather than June 2, when they were originally scheduled earlier this year. Additionally, the case will be heard by a full panel of nine of the court’s judges. Chief Judge Merrick Garland, who President Obama has nominated to sit on the Supreme Court, has recused himself from all cases,...

The booing was nearly as loud as the cheering when Bill Clinton stepped to the microphone in this remote mountain hamlet deep in the depressed heart of coal country. In the audience at the local elementary school Thursday night was a sizable contingent of coal miners and their families, many wearing helmets and T-shirts declaring their support for Donald Trump. […] The event here was Bill Clinton’s fourth in a long day of campaigning across Kentucky, where his wife faces a similar backlash in next week’s primary. …

The oil price rout has caused a lot of headaches in the renewable industry, especially in the heavily subsidized U.S. solar sector, which is suffering some setbacks even as solar installations are growing rapidly. Solar power suppliers are scaling back operations as demand is growing slower than expected, and the sector is wondering where to go from here. Investors have, of course, sensed the uncertainty. An industry that showed so much promise—particularly against the background of international efforts to curb the effects of climate change—is now in the doldrums. So what went wrong?

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 7, 2016: Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 492,923 carloads and intermodal units, down 10.6% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending May. 7 were 233,047 carloads, down 14.8% compared with the same week in 2015, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 259,876 containers and trailers, down 6.4% compared to 2015. Three of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2015. They were miscellaneous carloads, up 6.7% to 9,839 carloads; chemicals, up...

What if an attack on coal was like an attack on Mom or apple pie? Now, granted, coal would make a lousy mom or even pie, but coal is what helped make America great. And at least one presidential contender is for Making America Great Again via including an avenue through coal country. West Virginia voters are certainly hopeful. See results of Tuesday’s voting for confirmation. Coal has traditionally been the muscle to hoist America above foreign competitors because of its relative low expense and high energy content. But, typical of the contemporary climate, that which was yesterday’s hero is...

Hillary Clinton is putting magician David Copperfield to shame with her vanishing voter trick. Her base of support is disappearing right before our eyes, but unlike Copperfield, Clinton isn’t putting on an act. On Tuesday, Clinton lost the West Virginia primary to 74-year-old socialist Bernie Sanders 51% to 36%. That’s a stark contrast to 2008, when she trounced Barack Obama, 66.9% to 25.7% (John Edwards received 7.3%). But perhaps what’s more shocking is the raw vote total. In 2008, she received 240,890 votes. Yesterday, Clinton netted 84,176 votes, according to NBC — a 65% decline. Other numbers show how the...

The economic devastation is very real in West Virginia. Obama promised to shut down the coal industry as one of his bold campaign promises in 2008. Hillary’s plan is to keep the dream of shutting down the coal industry alive long after Obama is out of office. Coal miners are taking and stand and letting America know they are not going to sit back and watch their livelihoods and towns destroyed by a radical leftist President. Watch here:

It’s no shocker that Hillary Clinton isn’t popular in West Virginia. In fact, no one from national Democratic circles, like President Obama, Nancy Pelosi etc., is popular here. Obama didn’t win a single county in the Mountain State in 2012, and the last time West Virginia went Democratic was 1996. Clinton’s remarks that she was going to put coal miners out of business did not sit well with the residents of Logan County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans. In fact, CNN was hard pressed to find really any Democrat who supported Clinton—they’re all voting for Trump.

She-Who-Must-Not-Be-President ran into a dust-up in coal country last week. Sitting across a table for a media photo-op, an unemployed coal worker put the former Secretary of State and U.S. Senator from New York and First Lady on the hot seat. Strange as it might seem, the folks in West Virginia don’t much cotton to politicians intent on tossing them out of work. No matter how many government handouts those politicians promise. At a CNN town hall in March, Hillary Clinton boasted: “I’m the only candidate which [sic] has a policy about how to bring economic opportunity — using clean...

Saudi Arabia’s [Prince] Turki al Faisal addressing Bill Clinton at Clinton Global Initiative shindig, September 25, 2012: “Muslims will never forget your deliverance of Bosnia-Herzogovenia and Kosovo, and near-deliverance, within 100 meters, of Palestine from occupation.” There by a smiling Chelsea’s side, in a room full of people who warmly approve of the term Israeli “occupation”: her sellout Jewish husband.

Hillary Cinton isn't over the finish line yet, but as she continues to battle Bernie Sanders she's also turning her attention to a general election matchup with Donald Trump. A lot of Democrats say that in order to beat Trump, she needs to be developing a clearer message on the economy. That's not Donald Trump's problem. Not only does he have a simple, clear message — he often says so himself. "Our theme is very simple," Trump reminded voters last week after winning the Indiana primary. "Make America great again. We will make America great again. We will start winning...

Seeking to dissuade West Virginia voters from holding her promise "to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business" against her, Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton maintains that "those remarks have been distorted by being taken out of context." The specific context, according to the candidate "was the need to get the votes of environmentally conscious individuals in states that have no coal industry. For my opponents and the media to inject that statement into the West Virginia primary distorts the nuanced messages I am trying to express to the varied constituencies around the nation. It...

During the debates, Hillary Clinton somewhat famously told that nation, “we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Do you suppose the people in West Virginia noticed? Even if they missed the live coverage of the event, they’ve been reminded of it plenty of times since then, and only a few days before the primary on Tuesday the powerful West Virginia Coal Association has jumped in with an endorsement of her opponent.

The United States has lost approximately 191,000 jobs in the mining industry since September 2014 including approximately 7,000 that were lost in April, according to data published today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The coal mining industry alone has lost approximately 10,900 jobs since April of last year. “Mining employment continued to decline in April (-7,000),” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its employment release this morning. “Since reaching a peak in September 2014, employment in mining has decreased by 191,000, with more than three-quarters of the loss in support activities for mining.” In recent years, according to...

Republican Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail for his first rally as his party’s presumptive nominee on Thursday night, delivering a series of searing attacks against likely rival Hillary Clinton and making clear he has no intention of toning down the rhetoric that drove his spectacular rise. Trump, arriving to John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” betrayed a hint of wistfulness about wrapping up the nomination more quickly than he and his aides had expected. Rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich suddenly ended their campaigns this week, making his visit to West Virginia, which votes May 10, largely...

The West Virginia Coal Association is putting its weight behind Donald Trump for president. Members of the group, which represents companies in coal mining and related industries, voted Thursday to endorse the presumptive Republican nominee, days before West Virginia’s presidential primary. “Trump has said he will reverse the Democratic regulatory assault that has cost the coal industry more than 40 percent of our production and jobs since 2008,” Bill Raney, the group’s president, said in a statement. “In contrast, Hillary Clinton’s proposals essentially double-down on the job killing Obama policies,” he said. “West Virginia can’t afford that and neither can...

Thursday, May 5, 2016: Live Stream of the Donald Trump for President rally in Charleston, WV at the Charleston Civic Center beginning at 7:00 PM EDT Charleston, WV Charleston is the capital and largest city of the State of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2013 Census Estimate, it had a population of 50,821, while its metropolitan area had 224,743. It is a center of government, commerce, and industry. Early industries important to Charleston included salt and the first natural gas well. Later, coal became central...