The mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky can much less likely to be stripped and gutted for the purposes of coal extraction that they were even a few years ago as natural gas continues its ascendance.
"Coal production mountaintop removal mining has fallen 62 percent since 2008, dropping at a faster rate that overall coal production during a period of industry decline," reports James Bruggers. The news comes a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which also found a 15 percent decrease in coal production from 2008 to 2014 in addition to several other metrics of decline for coal production in the United States.
"The government agency noted that lower demand for U.S. coal, primarily used to generate electric power, has been driven by competitive natural gas prices, an increasing use of renewable generation, flat electricity demand, and environmental regulations," adds Bruggers.
Reporting from Louisville, Bruggers noted a local example of the trend toward natural gas—LG&E recently dedicated a $530 natural gas power plant to replace a coal power plant.
The report echoes news earlier this year of the decline of the coal industry's market cap, which is down to $1.2 billion from $21.7 billion in June 2010.
FULL STORY: Mountaintop removal coal mining drops sharply
Mountain Coal States vs. West Coast Cities
A legal battle is being waged between the coal-exporting states of Utah, Wyoming, and Montana and coastal cities in California, Oregon, and Washington that pits the power of local land-use authority against the protection of interstate commerce.
It's Official: Obama's Clean Power Plan Has Been Replaced by the Trump Administration
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Investigation Reveals the Failures of 'Clean Coal'
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Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
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Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
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World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
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California Grid Runs on 100% Renewable Energy for Over 9 Hours
The state’s energy grid was entirely powered by clean energy for some portion of the day on 37 out of the last 45 days.
New Forecasting Tool Aims to Reduce Heat-Related Deaths
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AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
Several Texas cities are using an AI-powered platform called NoTraffic to help manage traffic signals to increase safety and improve traffic flow.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
