by Christopher Mims. By 2015, coal production in Appalachia will be half what it was in 2008. Some coal industry advocates argue that such a drop is due to increased regulation by the Obama administration (go figure). But geologists and others who work in the industry say it's actually the result of a much more basic fact: Appalachia is running out of coal. Used to be, coal was so thick in the hills of Kentucky and West Virginia that miners could get at it just by digging elaborate underground mines. Now, though, all the easy coal is gone, which means the seams that are being exploited by mining companies are sometimes as thin as six inches, says Leonard Fleming , a retired Kentucky miner and union leader in Letcher County who worked in the industry for 32 years. The only way to mine such sparse coal without going broke is mountaintop-removal mining, a process so environmentally destructive that it turns forests into moonscapes , devastating nearby land and water to the point that even the people whose states profit from it aren't fans . This doesn't mean America is running out of coal, of course — we remain the Saudi Arabia of the stuff. However, the coal in the western U.S. has a lower energy content than Appalachian coal, so it's less useful (and no less planet-killing ).

See more here:
‘Peak Coal’ comes to Appalachia

More on SKCEA.org:

• Food hubs: How small farmers get to market
  By Claire...
• Maldives ‘tourism boom’ putting manta rays at risk
  Giant manta rays could be driven away from world-famous feeding site in five years because of disruption from tourist industry, warns leading marine biologist. Since being awarded MPA status in 2009 and receiving increased media interest, Hanifaru Bay in Baa Atoll has seen its to...
• Exploring Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture
  The type of agriculture practiced in a given region depends heavily on the climate and weather that region receives. So naturally, with climate change, agriculture will be forced to change. Certain crops will have to be discarded for alternative crops which may grow better in the...
• The Parakeet Invasion of England
  This green and pleasant land is quickly becoming home to a green and not so pleasant bird. The Rose-Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), an exotic bird from India and sub-Saharan Africa is spreading like wildfire in London and its surrounding suburbs. Their population was estima...
• Fannie and Freddie attack clean-energy plan
  by Jonathan Hiskes. Few new ideas brighten the faces of clean-energy advocates as much as Property Assessed Clean Energy , or PACE, the Berkeley-born financing tool that's spreading quickly throughout the country. The three-year-old model has put rooftop solar panels, high-effic...