coal mining

Software coders (from left) William Stevens, Michael Harrison and Brack Quillen work at the Bit Source office in Pikeville, Ky., in February. The year-old firm has trained laid-off coal workers to become software coders.

From Coal To Code: A New Path For Laid-Off Miners In Kentucky

7:15pm May 06, 2016

by Erica Peterson

The state's coal industry is shrinking fast; more than 10,000 workers have lost their jobs since 2008. A small firm in eastern Kentucky is turning unemployed coal workers into software developers.

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In 2006, a bulldozer sits ready for work at Peabody Energy's Gateway Coal Mine near Coulterville, Ill. Peabody is the latest coal company to declare bankruptcy.

U.S. Coal Giant Peabody Energy Files For Bankruptcy

10:20am April 13, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

As the coal industry struggles with falling prices, weak Chinese demand, regulatory changes and competition from fracking, St. Louis-based Peabody has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

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Tanya James (center), with her daughters Trista James (left) and Michelle Paugh on a recent visit with StoryCorps.

'If You Don't Fight For Yourself, Ain't Nobody Gonna Do It For you'

5:47am March 18, 2016

by NPR Staff

That's the lesson Tanya James' mother taught her. And she says it was invaluable in the West Virginia coal mines, where she worked for decades. Now, she's passing that lesson down to her daughters.

Members of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry attend a ceremony for miners killed at the Severnaya coal mine in a town north of the Arctic Circle.

World News

36 People Killed In Coal Mine Explosions And Fire, Russia Says

3:56pm February 29, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The explosions, which occurred over several days, are being blamed on a buildup of methane gas. When the first one shook the mine in the Komi Republic in northwest Russia, 111 miners were underground.

The federal government will stop issuing new coal leases on some 570 million acres of federal land, under a new plan being released Friday. In this photo from 2013, coal is loaded onto a truck at a mine built on federally controlled land in Montana.

U.S. Announces Moratorium On New Coal Leases On Federal Lands

11:05am January 15, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The change won't affect existing leases, which generated nearly $1.3 billion for the federal government's coal program last year.

Coal fires burn early in the morning in January 2014 at a privately owned coal mine in India's Jharkand state, making the air dense with noxious smoke and dust. Forty percent of India's mineral wealth lies in Jharkhand.

India's Quandary: Climate Change And Coal

5:14am November 27, 2015

by Julie McCarthy

Coal is king in India. Some say there's little alternative. So how can this country, the world's third-largest polluter, provide energy and lift millions from poverty while trying to become "greener"?

A coal scraper machine works on a pile of coal at American Electric Power's Mountaineer coal power plant in 2009 in New Haven, W.Va. The state, in which coal mining is a major industry, is one party planning to sue the Environmental Protection Agency rega

New Power Plant Rules Likely To Start Slow-Burning Debate, Legal Action

11:56am August 04, 2015

by Jeff Brady

A huge legal battle is coming over the White House plan to address climate change with additional power plant regulations. The coal industry has the most to lose, and plans to take the EPA to court.

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Supreme Court Rules In Industry's Favor. What's EPA's Next Move?

12:32am June 30, 2015

by Christopher Joyce

Monday's decision from the high court technically only applies to the Clean Air Act's standards on mercury emissions from power plants. But it could affect future EPA regulations, legal experts say.

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