July 18, 2018 - The CEO of one of the largest coal mining companies in the United States blasted The Columbus Dispatch in an editorial published on Sunday, July 15.

Robert E. Murray, the owner of Murray Energy Corporation, wrote a letter titled, “Editorial ignored key coal benefits” that blasted the paper for selectively picking facts about coal mining and its effects on the economy, energy production, and the environment.

He called the newspaper an “embarrassment” for its editorial titled, “Propping up coal, nuclear would be needless, destructive.”

He said such editorials are the reason why readers have not trusted The Dispatch with “accurate news reporting for many years.”

He began by describing The Dispatch as “fake news” for its claim that Murray Energy Corporation has an “abysmal record for safety and environmental concern.”

He countered, saying his company has “one of the most outstanding employee-safety and environmental-compliance records in the coal industry, and, indeed, in any industry.”

Murray said his company acts on the belief that profit from coal is not worth any injuries, or as he described it, “no pound of coal is worth getting hurt over.”

He said the paper’s claim about its environmental impact is fallacious, too.

“We have been very effective in ensuring that our operations have no impact on the quality of air, water and soil in the areas in which we operate,” Murray wrote.

The Dispatch’s editorial said President Donald Trump’s efforts to deregulate the coal industry “is saving a small number of jobs for a short time,” but Murray has a different perspective.

“Murray Energy has provided the largest number of high-paying, well-benefited jobs in Eastern Ohio, up to 1,500 of them at any one time,” he wrote.

The anti-coal editorial further claimed the energy grid could survive without coal and nuclear.

Yet, Murray said a recent cold spell caused natural gas prices to spike from $30 per megawatt hour to more than $500 per megawatt hour.

And in many areas, electricity was not available at all.

Nuclear and coal power provided electricity to homes unserved by natural gas.

“The Dispatch editorial condemns President Trump’s and Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s efforts to support coal-fired and nuclear baseload generation in the United States,” Murray wrote. “These actions are critical in ensuring the reliability and resiliency of our electric power grids. Without the leadership of the Trump Administration, our grids would be prone to power brownouts and blackouts.”