July 18, 2023
Those of us fortunate enough to be around this area in the 40s, 50s and 60s probably remember what Bluefield was like, back then. One of my vivid memories is in the years after WHIS-TV went on the air in 1955. The TV station and its radio siblings, WHIS-AM and FM were located on the third floor of what was then the Municipal Building on Bland Street, and is now the Arts Center.
I liked the TV and radio stations and hung around there a good bit. I remember standing at the windows overlooking Bland Street at 5:00 p.m. watching two lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic slowly crawling out of the downtown area.
At that time the downtown was filled and thriving: clothing stores, furniture stores, pharmacies, office buildings, banks, a music store, hotels, restaurants, a newspaper, railroad buildings, and more. Bluefield was the shopping center and banking center for the southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia coal fields, where tens of thousands of regional residents lived and worked.
The rail yard was filled with hundreds of train cars, both those dozens filled with coal getting ready to head out, and those empty cars ready to be filled up again. Empty tracks were not visible until you were out of the downtown area of both Bluefields.
The coal industry isn’t what it once was, due to natural and manmade events. Coal became naturally replaced for some uses by other fuels. But it also was targeted by governments, which caused great distress well before the job and business losses should have occurred, and over a much shorter time period than was either necessary or judicious.
Today, a large faction wants coal and other fossil fuels to be abandoned in favor of cleaner, “green” energy sources. But fortunately, there is still a need for these fuels, not only in America, but across the globe.
“Coal is an abundant natural resource that can be used as a source of energy, as a chemical source from which numerous synthetic compounds (e.g., dyes, oils, waxes, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides) can be derived,” Britannica.com explains, “and in the production of coke for metallurgical processes,” such as making steel.
Although burning coal for heat and energy are heavily opposed, coal is still a major source of energy for electricity, particularly in other countries like China and India. Also, the gasification and liquefaction of coal produce gaseous and liquid fuels that can be easily transported by pipeline and stored in tanks.
Britannica.com adds, “After the tremendous rise in coal use in the early 2000s, which was primarily driven by the growth of China’s economy, coal use worldwide peaked in 2012. Since then coal use has experienced a steady decline, offset largely by increases in natural gas use.”
For coal reserves, only China has more than the U.S., but the U.S. has nearly twice as much recoverable coal as China. And the industry is working to make burning coal a cleaner process.
“Meanwhile, more than a quarter trillion tons of coal lie underfoot, from the Appalachians through the Illinois Basin to the Rocky Mountains—enough to last 250 years at today's consumption rate,” according to National Geographic. “You hear it again and again: The U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal. About 40 coal-burning power plants are now being designed or built in the U.S., [and] China, also rich in coal, could build several hundred by 2025.”
Clearly, there is and will be for a long time the need for coal produced in the two Virginias, and elsewhere.
Chris Hamilton, President & CEO West Virginia Coal Association, sent out an email thorough Friends of Coal recently, saying, “Throughout our state’s 160-year history, the coal industry has been a major driver behind West Virginia’s economy and billions of dollars of new investment will ensure that similar benefits are generated for the next 160 years.
“Despite all the hype you hear about a zero-carbon economy and transitioning to renewable, or intermittent energy forms, West Virginia’s metallurgical and thermal coals will continue to drive our economy while remaining a stable component of our state and nation’s energy mix,” he wrote.
The email contained some other relevant information:
* World coal use is growing with over 8 billion tons consumed in 2022.
* Coal accounts for over 50 percent of West Virginia’s total export product.
* West Virginia-produced coal accounts for over 40 percent of our nation’s total coal exports.
* Forty countries and 30 states rely on West Virginia coal to power their energy needs.
* West Virginia produces the highest quality metallurgical coal found anywhere in the world and 69 percent of the base fuel for domestic steel making.
The coal industry may not again become the powerful local economic engine it was back in the day, but it is still responsible for over $14 billion in annual economic activity for the state, provides 50,000-plus West Virginia jobs, and provides substantial severance tax collections for the state.
The coal reserves in our region constitute an opportunity to provide a product that the nation and the world will need for quite a while in the future, and an economic boost for the region.
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