Quote Originally Posted by waterdog101 View Post
do you really believe Obama is the cause of the bad coal market, or could it be the greedy coal Operators pricing them self, out of business. with 110.00 plus per ton coal. the power plants are no different than any other company, get the bottom line down no matter who gets hurt. the natural gas market is booming and it is cheaper than coal. thats why the power plants switched over. Obama does want what coal that is burned to be burned cleaner, and to me that is a good move to try and clean up the air everyone breaths.
Why do you think they have to price so high? The cost of Government Regulation is a bottom line killer. You really think they would just price themselves out of the market? No sir. They are smarter than that. They have to make money like any other for-profit company.

Kentucky has some of the cleanest coal fired power plants in the World...which, because of the EPA's regulational handcuffs, will be sitting dormant or converted to natural gas fired plants...which, guess what? They employ less Kentuckians and put countless others who make their living in coal mines or as service workers in other industries serving the mines and the mines' workers out of jobs. It's is a horrible scenario for Kentucky's economy and several other states. My company has done business in Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia in mining communities for years. When coal isn't running, it is not a pleasant place to be. No money, no growth, no consumer confidence of any kind. They go into full on survival mode. Coal is all they have in a lot of these places. Companies in other industries don't want to invest in these geographies because of it too.

Tough cycle to get out of.