Free Republic

The explosion occurred 6:45 p.m. at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said a preliminary assessment indicated the explosion was likely caused by firedamp — a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines. There were 110 people in the mine at the time of the explosion, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who traveled to Amasra to coordinate the rescue operation, told reporters. Most of the workers were able to evacuate following the blast, but 49 were trapped in a higher risk area...

NORFOLK Nearly 20 ships were anchored off Cape Charles early last week, most if not all of them colliers waiting to pick up coal destined for ports all over the world. Just a couple of years ago, you might have seen only a few vessels at a time in the same location. Not any more. They’re back. Hampton Roads is the biggest coal-exporting port in the country. Baltimore is right behind it. And they’re both in the vanguard of what appears to be a U.S. coal-export revival. Between 2016 and 2017, coal exports from Hampton Roads have surged by 58.8...

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For climate change activists and those hoping for an energy future dominated by renewables or even less-polluting natural gas, the death of coal cannot come quickly enough. But with coal still the dominant form of cheap electricity throughout the world, it is unlikely the bogeyman of climate change will disappear anytime soon. That's because the price of coal, compared to other fuels, is just too good to refuse. Just look at China, where the country's double-digit economic growth has largely been fueled by coal, which fulfills 60 percent of its energy mix.

In the century following the Civil War, nothing brought change to Appalachia as much as did the development of coal mining. The western highlands of Southern Appalachia overlay vast fields of bituminous coal and the construction of railroads into the mountains opened up coalfields for commercial exploitation. By the end of the 19th Century, Appalachian coal was powering the industrial revolution in America, providing fuel for power plants, locomotives and other steam engines, and coke for making steel.

Miners, environmentalists stand at the ready as interest in coal reignites -- SMOKY JUNCTION, Tenn. — Just about every morning, Harold Junior "Red John" Newport wedges his chunky frame into a mud-spattered black Chevy truck and drives down to the store run by William and Clara Hembree at this remote mountain crossroads. He’ll pull up alongside the end of the porch, open his door and shoot the bull with anyone who happens to drop by. Newport’s a 65-year-old retired coal truck driver with a craggy face, owlish eyebrows and sky blue eyes. Throughout the day, he alternates between smoking Swisher...