Coal Age

AUG 2012

Coal Age Magazine - For nearly 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.

Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/82345

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 125 of 205

1970-1979 1970s: Coal Offers America Energy Security 1970-1979 T he energy crisis that many pundits had been warning about finally occurred in the 1970s. And when it came, amid Arab Oil Embargos, feared natural gas shortages, and rolling blackouts, coal offered itself up as the solution. With tremendous reserves and the ability to power the nation, the Nixon administra- tion accepted coal's suggestion, but on several condition, following passage of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (often referred to as the Coal Act), the federal government was going to even more thoroughly regulate production, safety, reclamation and air pollution. And though the utility industry rapidly expanded by building more coal-fired power plants nationwide, the coal indus- try had never before come under such scrutiny. A large "ecologically" minded populace demanded more environmen- tal controls and dogged the industry all decade. Without a doubt, the most comprehen- sive piece of legislation affecting the opera- tion of coal mines ever promulgated, this law regulated all aspects of mine safety, limiting the kinds of environments in which men could work. Though coal entered the 1970s "with a solid base for continuing growth and possibly in the strongest posi- tion in its history…the strict standards incorporated in the new federal law will make the cost of mining go up in 1970 and will challenge the industry to come up with ways of boosting efficiency to keep costs as low as possible," wrote editor Alfred E. Flowers in the January 1970 issue. Continuous mining methods, further advances in longwall technology, and the increased size of surface mines allowed pro- duction to soar, and a series of energy shocks and oil embargoes improved the industry's profit margins. In 1971, Congress passed the Clean Air Act (CAA) limiting sulfur and nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions. To enforce this and other 122 www.coalage.com sweeping environmental legislation, and to help corral various state initiatives, the Republican Nixon administration created a new federal bureaucracy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Equipped with enforcement powers, a green police force was let loose upon the land. New plants being built nationwide assured a growing future for the industry, but various challenges remained. Chief among these was labor, both attracting, training and retaining enough manpower as well as keeping the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from totally implod- ing. Immediately following the vicious murder of former UWMA presidential can- didate Jock Yablonski, along with his wife and daughter on December 29, 1969, ques- tions about the assassination arose. When the criminal investigation led to arrests in 1970, fingers pointed back to union leader- ship. Witnesses began implicating individ- uals out of President Tony Boyle's office as initiating, authorizing and paying for the hit. With unrelated federal corruption charges raining down on Boyle's head, the lurid details about the murder came out. New elections were called, and as union members went to the ballot box, not since the dark days of the Depression had the UMWA been that divided. Turmoil and Questions Surround New Regulations In 1969, electric utilities burned a record 310 million tons and total coal production reached 573 million tons. In 1970, with the electrical markets demanding even more coal, production jumped to more than 610 million tons—the highest total in more than 20 years. Not since the postwar days of 1948 had coal produced reached 600 mil- lion tons. Better still, as the decade began, total demand was outstripping production by a margin of some 20 million tons. Meeting the production goals throughout the decade would require capital expendi- 100th Anniversary Special Issue tures at record rates. In 1970, producers boosted spending almost 30% as they quickly moved to open up and equip new mines and build new preparation plants. But in the April 1970 issue, Flowers warned of trouble ahead. "An unprecedent- ed demand for low-cost energy is sweeping our country and satisfying that demand already is imposing a great responsibility on our energy resources…The difficulty of meeting our energy needs in the years ahead is compounded by the growing con- cern about pollution. Every large metropolitan area has set standards limit- ing sulfur oxides emissions and most of them are being tightened. Very little of the coal mined east of the Mississippi River can meet the present standards and when the tighter regulations go into effect, virtually none of this coal will be suitable for power generation." East Coast utilities, which had turned to gas and oil because of the stringent sulfur standards, were increasingly dependent on foreign energy sources, in particular Middle Eastern oil producers. "Thus our highly industrialized Northeast is rapidly becom- ing dependent on the eastern hemisphere for energy—and at the risk of our national security," wrote Flowers. Natural gas was not a cure-all either as production levels fell. "As a long-range solution to the energy problem, it would be logical to divert funds to the perfection of sulfur-removal processes now being tested or under development," wrote Flowers. But the key problem, Flowers wrote in his June 1970 editorial, was lack of available manpower. "In the past several years the subject of attracting good men to the coal industry has been on the lips of virtually all management men. The problem still remains acute and, as our industry becomes more complex, it probably will become worse." Right he was. In the late 1960s, Consol and other producers were already nervously watching much of August 2012

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Coal Age - AUG 2012