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Signature Sponsor
By Charles Young
June 15, 2017 - The West Virginia Coal Forum hosted a gathering of coal industry leaders and professionals in Morgantown Tuesday afternoon to discuss the state of the industry and the most recent developments in regulations and research.
The conference was attended by more than 75 professionals representing various aspects of the industry including coal operating personnel, academic researchers, coal-related business owners and mine safety officials.
The event, entitled “2017 and Beyond,” aimed to take stock of the current challenges facing the state’s coal industry and to look forward to its future.
Chris Hamilton, co-chairman of the West Virginia Coal Forum and senior vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said the organization regularly holds informational sessions to update those in the industry about the issues most likely to impact their business and affect their bottom line.
“The Coal Forum has been around for little more than 20 years, and we have offered educational briefings and workshops from everything from manpower and development to legislative programs, mine safety and environmental stewardship,” he said.
In recent years, the aim of the forum has been to educate those in the industry about federal regulations and other obstacles standing in the way of growth and development.
“Over the past four or five years we have focused on all the negative policies and initiatives that have been coming out of the EPA in the last federal administration,” he said. “We’ve tried to highlight the importance for everyone to help get involved and push back against those policies.”
While the industry faced harsh regulations and environmental policies under President Obama’s administration, Hamilton said industry officials are hopeful about the industry’s prospects under President Trump.
“Hopefully, all of that is behind us,” he said. “We hope that it is all behind us — at least for the next several years it should be behind us.”
Since Trump’s election, the industry has seen a number of encouraging developments, Hamilton said.
“Since November, there is reason to be optimistic,” he said. “We’ve seen a number of major policy matters which came out of the previous administration terminated, which has all been positive. We’ve seen a little bit of a bump in coal production in the state. We’ve seen some renewed confidence within the investor and financial community.”
The Coal Forum will be hosting similar talks around the state in the coming months to help the industry capitalize on these recent positive developments, Hamilton said.
“We’re trying to generate some professional discussions, some ideas, some proposals on how we can sustain the current production, the increase, those things that are giving us some renewed optimism and how we can work best as a state with this Trump administration.” Although Trump has been in office for only a few months, Hamilton said he has already shown signs of being a friend to the industry.
“There has been a lot of indication that he is serious about doing what he can in his power to try and turn the coal industry around.”
Jason Bostic, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said he agreed that Trump administration will work with industry, but the industry must also work with the administration.
“Donald Trump cannot fix West Virginia’s problems,” he said. “He can help, but in the end, West Virginia has to fix its own problems.”
Tuesday’s event also featured remarks from Gene Cliento, dean of West Virginia University’s Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources; an update on coal industry research by Richard Bajura of the National Research Center for Coal and Energy; and a panel discussion on the latest developments in coal-fired electrical power generation.
The Coal Forum’s next event will be held June 29 in Charleston at the Cultural Center.
For more information about the West Virginia Coal Forum and future events, visit www.wvcoalforum.org. |
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