Chalk up another 500 jobs to the list of jobs President Obama will need to create or save. A Pittsburgh-based coal company, CONSOL Energy, will lay off nearly 500 of its West Virginia workers next year and its CEO blames environmentalists dead-set against mountaintop mining who have waged “nuisance” lawsuits for the job loss. But CONSOL Energy’s political problems are not unique to the mining industry, which has suffered under the Obama Administration.
The Environmental Protection Agency is already holding 79 surface mining permits in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The EPA says these permits could violate the Clean Water Act and warrant "enhanced" review. And, agency went even further in October, announcing plans to revoke a permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in West Virginia. The latest setback for the coal industry was announced on Tuesday when CONSOL Energy said close to 500 workers would lose jobs at their Fola Operations location near Bickmore, West Virginia in February 2010.You may recall, during the campaign, video that surfaced of Obama claiming his policies would bankrupt the coal industry. He denied he said that. He said he was taken out of context. Here's the video. Was he taken out of context?
Joe Biden said he was taken out of context too. Was he?
How's that hope and change working for ya' West Virginia?
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