Coal Age

AUG 2012

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2000-2012 $305/mt. CONSOL Energy begins to talk about the Pittsburgh No. 8 seam's crossover capabilities, meaning that it would soon start exporting steam coal to China for met purposes. After record sales and production in 2008, international met markets plummet in 2009, but Asian demand starts to tick upward again in 2010 and 2011. U.S. coal operators suffering from a weak domestic market begin to search for more ways to market coals abroad. Port capacity is maxed along the East Coast. Some opera- tors begin using mid-stream loading in the lower Mississippi to load ships. Others use the St. Lawrence Seaway to export coal and transload coal onto ships waiting off the coast of Nova Scotia. In the meantime, some of the largest U.S. producers are looking to develop more ports along the Gulf and Pacific Coasts. Politics & Policymakers At the beginning of the decade, the world watched as President Clinton grappled with scandal and narrowly avoided impeach- ment. Fearing they might lose the White House during the 2000 Presidential Election,the Clinton administration submits an unusually large number of appropriations to the Department of Labor and the EPA in a last ditch effort to enact their agenda by back-door means. George W. Bush defeats Al Gore in the 2000 presidential elec- tions. President Bush's strong position in favor of domestic energy policy inspires the coal industry. Bush nominates Elaine Chao as Secretary of Labor, New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman to lead the EPA, Michigan Sen. Spencer Abraham as Secretary of Energy, and Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior. Whitman supported voluntary compliance with pollution control over corporate fines. Abraham, who formerly advocated for abolishing the Department of Energy (DoE), strong- ly opposes extreme global warming controls. General Lawson retires from the National Mining Association (NMA) at the end of 2000. The NMA names Jack Gerard president and CEO. Raised in Idaho's silver mining dis- trict, Gerard is a lobbyist with mining roots. From the onset, he takes the NMA from an institutional-type lobbying organization to a more proactive organization. He holds annual meetings in Washington instead of resort destinations and begins marching mining executive around Capitol Hill to tell their story. A year after President Bush flat out rejects the Kyoto Protocol, he announces a Clean Skies Initiative, which is a three-pollutant approach (NOx, SO2 and mercury) for power plants. It does not consider CO2 a pollutant and ties environ- mental protection to economic activity where limits are mea- sured against U.S. gross domestic product. During early April 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court makes two decisions that have negative long-term implications for the coal business. It ruled that CO2 was in fact a pollutant and that the EPA should look at the total output of pollutants when deter- mining compliance. As the global warming debate heats up, the Supreme Court is essentially saying that it understands the emissions debate and that the U.S. response to climate changes was already covered 50 years ago when Congress enacted the Clean Air Act (CAA). Harold "Hal" Quinn is appointed CEO of the NMA during September 2008. Quinn is highly regarded among his peers as a sharp attorney who has represented the mining industry well in Washington. He brings nearly 30 years of experience to the posi- tion. He served as vice president under General Lawson when he August 2012 100th Anniversary Special Issue www.coalage.com 175

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