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2000-2012 merged the National Coal Association and American Mining Congress to form the NMA and as senior vice pres- ident under Jack Gerard, while he restructured the NMA. Quinn is an excellent choice because the coal industry is about to enter the fight of its lifetime as Democrats, with strong ties to environmental activism, win a land-slide victory in the 2008 presi- dential election. Hal Quinn, CEO, NMA. The U.S. elects President Barack Obama and the democrats also win a majority in both houses of Congress. Obama appoints Lisa Jackson, an environmental zealot, to head the EPA. He appoints Steven Chu, who favors renewable energy, to head the DoE. The EPA begins to question mountaintop mining permits in West Virginia and also announces plans for some of the most stringent emissions poli- cies for coal-fired power plants. The Obama administration's War on Coal begins. During December 2000, a three-judge panel heard arguments for and against overturning the ruling. They ruled that they lacked jurisdiction over the state's mining laws. The environ- mental activists appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it refused to hear the case. The same federal court in West Virginia then ruled that placement of waste from mountaintop mines in valleys (or val- ley-fills) violated the Clean Water Act. The ruling bars the Army Corp of Engineers from issuing the crucial 404 permits needed for mountaintop mining. During June 2009, the Obama administration announced it was taking unprecedented steps to reduce the environmental impacts of mountaintop mining through a coordinated approach between the EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers. The decision effectively placed 79 applica- tions for Appalachian surface mining permits in limbo. The EPA uses its "authority" to revoke a permit that had already been issued for Arch Coal's Spruce No. 1 mine. Tempers flare throughout Appalachia as the Obama EPA oversteps its bounds. High Profile Disasters Tarnish a Dramatic Improvement in Safety Dave Lauriski replaces Davitt McAteer at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Prior to this appointment, Lauriski served as general manager of Energy West Mining in Utah, and director of health, safety, environmental and govern- mental affairs for Interwest Mining. He was part of the mine safety team at the Willberg mine fire in Utah in 1984. In September 2001, explosions rip through Jim Walter Resources' Blue Creek No. 5 mine. The mine, probably the deepest and gassiest in the nation, suffers two explosions on September 23, and a subsequent fire, killing 13 miners. The dis- aster is the worst to occur since the Willberg mine fire. The event is over-shadowed by the September 11 terrorist attacks and doesn't receive much media attention. Kentucky Representative Hal Rodgers took the microphone for a blistering condem- nation of the Obama EPA—music to the ears of gathered supporters. *Coal Age, October 2010 In December 2009, the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) pens an opinion piece, Coal Must Embrace the Future. In it, he berates the coal industry for fear mongering and grandstanding. Coal's elder statesman, who was presented with the Coal Age Award 20 years early, lectures the coal industry and warns the miners not resist the changes that are inevitable as society moves to biomass and natural gas. Controversy Erupts over Mountaintop Mining The new decade opened with a Sen. Byrd (D-WV) leading a rally of 1,000 to 2,500 miners on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to sup- port mountaintop mining, which is more commonly known as mountaintop removal mining, in West Virginia. Several opera- tions had recently resumed mining after the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection lifted an order that halted the practice based on a 1999 court ruling. Environmental activists appealed the decision by U.S. District Court's landmark ruling on mountaintop mining. 176 www.coalage.com In July 2002, nine miners are rescued from an inundated Quecreek mine in Pennsylvania. In an exclusive, the engineers responsible for locating and rescuing the miners describe to Coal Age how they approached and solved the problem. Basically a surveyor went into a cornfield with a GPS unit and said, "If they are alive, they are here." He was correct. The rescuers brought drill rigs onto the site and dropped a rescue capsule and retrieved all nine miners—alive. The mine rescue received a lot of media attention. The happy ending, rare for coalfield tragedies, briefly changes the perspective for mine rescue operations. They would soon be sorely disappointed. Lauriski steps down and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao appoints David G. Dye acting secretary for mine safety and health in November 2004. While there were some complaints about Lauriski's performance, especially from the UMWA, fatality rates remained low during his tenure even with the Jim Walter Resources explosion. *Coal Age, January 2006 100th Anniversary Special Issue August 2012