coal mining

NPR Continues To Find Hundreds Of Cases Of Advanced Black Lung

1:25pm July 01, 2017

by Howard Berkes

Black lung results from exposure to coal dust. Progressive massive fibrosis is an especially aggressive form, blamed on inhalation of silica dust from the cutting of quartz rock and coal together.

FACT CHECK: Is President Trump Correct That Coal Mines Are Opening?

7:33pm June 02, 2017

by Reid Frazier

Locals in Jennerstown, Pa., are celebrating the grand opening of a coal mine and the estimated 70 jobs it brings. But the broad trends pushing the industry down are likely to continue, experts say.

40 year-old Longhua worker Wu Songtao and co-worker Wang Fuxiang stand at the bottom of their coal mine in Dalianhe. It's one of China's largest open-pit mines.

World News

As China's Coal Mines Close, Miners Are Becoming Bolder In Voicing Demands

9:37am March 14, 2017

by Rob Schmitz

State-run coal mines are shutting down in China's rust belt. Facing layoffs, miners are worried about their future — and in the absence of labor unions, are organizing to demand better treatment.

Queue Listen Now

Ashley Funk plans to move back home to southwest Pennsylvania to work on environmental projects in a place where climate change and the local economy are intertwined.

A Daughter Of Coal Country Battles Climate Change — And Her Father's Doubt

8:08pm February 16, 2017

by Rebecca Hersher

In southwestern Pennsylvania, collapsed mining and steel industries led to economic and environmental downturn. A divided father and daughter work to find common ground to save their hometown.

Queue Listen Now

James Bounds is a West Virginia miner with black lung disease; it took him 4 1/2 years to get compensation benefits. A provision in Obamacare later made qualifying for those benefits much easier.

Obamacare Repeal Threatens A Health Benefit Popular In Coal Country

10:58am January 24, 2017

by Kara Lofton

The Affordable Care Act made it faster and easier for a coal miner with black lung to get compensation benefits. Many in coal country want that provision retained, even if the larger law is repealed.

Queue Listen Now

President-elect Donald Trump's promises to bring back miner jobs and open mines again appealed to many voters in coal country.

Coal Country Picked Trump. Now, They Want Him To Keep His Promises

6:30pm January 01, 2017

Voters in coal country overwhelmingly chose Donald Trump. They liked his promises to create jobs, even if they didn't like his other rhetoric. Now, they're waiting to see if coal can make a comeback.

Branham wears reflective mining pants in his home in Elkhorn City, Ky. Branham has advanced stage black lung and was forced to quit mining earlier this year.

Advanced Black Lung Cases Surge In Appalachia

10:08am December 16, 2016

by Howard Berkes

An NPR investigation has documented dramatic spikes in complicated black lung, the most serious stage of the deadly coal miners' disease.

Queue Listen Now

World News

33 Miners Reported Dead After Blast In China

11:45pm November 01, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Chinese media say 33 miners trapped in an explosion in a coal mine in southwestern China have been found dead. Only two miners escaped alive. Rescuers had worked around the clock to try to save them.

Joel McKinney stands beside a hydroponic tower that is part of his farm outside the Five Loaves and Two Fishes Food Bank.

In Coal Country, Farmers Get Creative To Bridge The Fresh Produce Gap

5:11pm October 18, 2016

by Roxy Todd

At least a quarter of people in West Virginia struggle to afford groceries. In one county, two farmers are finding new ways to help their neighbors sell the food they grow and eat more healthfully.

Former coal miners are trained as linesmen in a program co-sponsored by the Hazard Community and Technical College and the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program in Hazard, Ky.

Eastern Kentucky Tries To Keep Former Coal Miners From Leaving

5:03am September 05, 2016

by Jim Zarroli

For a long time, coal was king in eastern Kentucky. But the industry today is hemorrhaging jobs. The region is now struggling to rebuild its economy and find new jobs for unemployed miners.