Virginia continues to be a top coal producer, but new rules and
renewables challenge the industry’s futureApril 27, 2012 6:00 AM
by Garry Kranz Coal mining took off in Virginia when the
railroads arrived in the 1880s. More than 130 years later, coal
still fuels Virginia’s economy. Northern Virginia’s tech sector
depends on a steady supply of low-cost electricity, much of it
derived from bitumen-rich Appalachian coal. And Virginia’s
deepwater port in Hampton Roads — the largest coal exporting
terminal in the U.S. — is a huge economic asset that neighboring
coal states can only envy. Coal mining is one of Virginia’s
oldest continuously operating industries, but the biggest
question facing coal companies now is this: how does it adapt to
the future? Just like the commodity they coax from the earth,
Virginia’s coal companies and their national counterparts are
under intense pressure. Coal has fallen into disfavor amid fears
that it contributes to carbon pollution and global warming,
prompting new environmental re