Feature Stories
Russian Control of U.S. Uranium Supply is a Huge National Security Problem
March 28, 2019
The Trump administration is to be commended for its “energy dominance” policy with respect to oil and natural gas production, but on domestic uranium mining, used for nuclear power generation and national defense purposes, it is the United States that
Abandoned Mine in Kanawha State Forest Now Habitat for Threatened Bats
March 25, 2019
More than a century after the last shift of miners and final load of coal exited a hillside portal overlooking Middlelick Branch in what is now Kanawha State Forest, work has resumed at the entrance to the long-abandoned mine. On
West Virginia: A Tale of Two Energy Industries
March 25, 2019
In McDowell County, miners are still mining coal 5,000 feet below the surface in the Pay Car Mine in Kimball, West Virginia. It’s a dirty and dangerous job, as evidenced by the Sago Mine disaster on January 2, 2006, when
Coal Mining in Distress? Not to This Indianapolis Startup
March 18, 2019
The American coal industry seems headed for the slag heap. At least five major coal companies have gone bankrupt since 2015. More than 60,000 coal miners have lost their jobs in the past decade. Last year, U.S. coal consumption hit
The Coal Company Who Bet Everything on U.S. Power Markets and Lost
March 18, 2019
Eleven years ago, Cloud Peak Energy Inc. made an all-or-nothing bet its rivals were unwilling to match: that coal would remain indispensable to the U.S. power sector. That gamble has now pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy. The company
Kentucky’s Coal Mining Towns Seek Revival from Tourism
March 14, 2019
The same Main Street winds through the old mountain mining towns of Cumberland, Benham, and Lynch, crosses a river and runs alongside a creek. The early 20th century coal mining boom drew people to this remote corner of southeast Kentucky,
Finalists Gather in Wyoming to View Development Site for Carbon Dioxide Technology
March 7, 2019
Hundreds of train cars extend alongside a road outside of Gillette, Wyo., overflowing with coal. Trucks haul the same energy resource from a large pit on the other side of the road. Gillette is commonly called the coal capital of
Northern Ontario’s Schauenburg Celebrates Half a Century in North Bay
March 5, 2019
Innovative products and enhanced customer service are just a couple of reasons why Schauenburg Industries Ltd. of North Bay continues to be a success story in Northern Ontario’s mining service and supply sector after half a century in operation. The
Nevada Mining Town Embraces Environmental Group’s Ranch Plan
March 4, 2019
Environmentalists are taking over a faded Nevada mining town, but many locals don’t seem to mind. The Nature Conservancy has become the largest private landowner in the Nye County community of Beatty, where the national organization and its neighbors are
A Timely Reminder of the Essential Value of Coal Power
February 25, 2019
Pennsylvanians are keenly aware that the state’s weather can be unforgiving. The nation’s latest turn with the polar vortex was a reminder of just how unforgiving it can be, both in the commonwealth and around most of the country. With