Good News: Another Coal Mining Company Slashing 1,200 Jobs

The destruction of the coal industry is one of Obama’s most successful endeavors:

Coal miner Alpha Natural Resources Inc said it would cut about 1,200 jobs, or 9 percent of its workforce, by early 2013 as weak demand forces it to halt production at some mines that produce coal used to generate power.

The company, which is shifting focus to more lucrative steel-making coal, will temporarily close eight mines in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania immediately, affecting about 400 jobs.

Alpha Natural in June said it would stop production at four mines in Kentucky, reduce thermal coalproduction and slash 150 jobs.

Obama’s EPA issued new regulations which directly lead to a loss of jobs in the coal industry.
And it will only get worse:

All these regulations are likely to weigh heavily on existing coal plants and to make the construction of new ones difficult or impossible. It is probably no exaggeration to say the EPA has declared a “War on Coal.” The map shows that, except for the Upper Midwest, nearly all shutdowns will occur east of the Mississippi. Western states have never invested that heavily in coal, even though half the nation’s coal now comes out of the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. The vast hydroelectric resources of the West plus the construction of nuclear power plants have made up the difference.
The only interesting anomaly is that shutdowns will not be so intense in the nation’s oldest “Coal Country” – Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. The reasons seem to be: 1) many urban areas in these states are now served by nuclear power, and 2) many new coal plants have been constructed with pollution equipment that will meet the new EPA standards.

Coal miners, however, will still be out of jobs