July 25, 2024 - Coal industry leaders gathered with the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee for a Wednesday hearing on “The Positive Impacts of Coal” held hundreds of feet underground in a Greene County mine where bituminous coal has been produced for over 150 years.

The setting itself illustrated the point of the hearing, that coal mining is critical to Pennsylvania’s economy, sustaining over 11,000 full-time jobs and producing nearly $4 billion in economic output, according to the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

Rep. Bud Cook, R-Washington County, hosted the hearing, which was chaired by Rep. Josh Kail, R-Beaver County, who heads up the GOP policy committee.

“If we want reliable electricity, national security, family-sustaining jobs and vibrant communities, we must support — and protect — Pennsylvania’s coal mining industry,” Cook said.

“The world is a better place with Pennsylvania energy, which is why we need a legislative and regulatory environment that advances the use of the Commonwealth’s natural resources,” Kail said.

Witnesses included the president of a west-central Pennsylvania coal producer.

“We have about 900 employees in Pennsylvania, about 60 over in Ohio,” Rosebud Mining Company’s Jim Barker said. “We have 15 underground coal mines, located in Indiana, Cambria, Jefferson, Clearfield, Somerset, Elk and Armstrong counties. So we mine about 4½ million tons of metallurgical coal in Pennsylvania, about 500,000 tons of thermal coal in Ohio.”

Rosebud was founded by Cliff Forrest in 1979. Barker said Forrest remains Rosebud’s CEO.

The Rosebud president said there is a difference between steam coal and metallurgical coal. He said steam coal is critical for economic and energy security, and for reliable and affordable electricity, while metallurgical coal is critical for economic and national security, to convert iron ore into new steel.

Barker presented a slide presentation, showing for instance how a coke oven carbonizes or bakes (cokes) the metallurgical coal into coke, a process akin to the medieval idea of making charcoal from wood so a blacksmith could pound iron into various products, utilizing what Barker called a condensed carbon source both important for heat and chemical reactions in the blast furnace.

The global demand for coal reached record highs last year, and the demand is anticipated to rise, as indicated by Matt Mackowiak, manager of government affairs for CONSOL Energy.

Also speaking was Tom Crooks, vice president of R.G. Johnson Inc., who quickly pointed out that he was not the same Tom Crooks who shot former President Donald Trump and three other men, one fatally, last weekend in Butler County.

“I am a mining engineer,” Thomas G. Crooks said. “I have been fortunate to have worked in and around mining since 1982. I have worked with RG Johnson Company since 1986. I’ve been blessed to visit dozens of mines in Pennsylvania and in Appalachia throughout my career. My favorite days are those spent underground.”

Also speaking was Rachel Gleason, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance.

“The PCA represents underground and surface bituminous coal operators in Pennsylvania, as well as other associated companies whose businesses rely on coal mining and a strong coal economy,” Gleason said. “Our membership is comprised of over 150 companies that operate in 22 of Pennsylvania’s counties.”

She talked of the state’s “rich coal history that dates back to the mid-18th century when it fueled the Industrial Revolution, later supported the iron industry and then Andrew Carnegie’s steel mills in the 1800’s.

“Today, Pennsylvania coal remains a crucial resource,” Gleason said, “and nationally we are the third largest coal-producing state behind Wyoming and West Virginia, producing over 42 million tons of coal in 2023.”

She also said Pennsylvania is also unique in that it is the only state in the nation with valuable deposits of both high-quality thermal and metallurgical bituminous coal on the western side of our state, and anthracite coal in the northeast.