Another coal community bites the dust

kentucky energy equation

Despite numerous federal judges ruling against Administrator Lisa Jackson and her Environmental Protection Agency's overstep into Appalachia's coal industry, Kentucky's energy sector continues to feel the brunt of  Jackson's mission to choke the economic vitality out of the Bluegrass State's most prized natural resource.

Of the 135,000 laborers in the coal industry, 2,000 have lost their jobs in this year alone, with an estimated 10,000 more to lose their jobs in the coming months. By the current administration's own estimates, just one of the sweeping new clean water standards will result in 7,000 losing their jobs. These jobs are not minimum wage jobs either. Coal miners make about $70,000 salaries and provide Kentucky with over 90% of their electricity needs.

Granted, some of this job loss in Kentucky is due to natural market forces, including a warm winter and new supplies of natural gas. Natural market forces are one thing - unelected federal bureaucrats picking winners and losers in energy markets is another.

And these job losses are just the beginning. With the current administration literally promising to bankrupt the coal industry, few entrepreneurs are willing to invest in Kentucky's most abundant resource, guaranteeing no new coal-fired power plants in the commonwealth. Existing power plants are also doomed, with one Senate report authored by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) estimating 175 coal-fired plants to be shut down. Most recently,  Alpha Natural Resources - which possesses the world's third largest supply of coal - closed major operations costing 1,200 workers their jobs.

As far as the EPA is concerned, that's just collateral damage as another coal community bites the dust.