The "New" Blue-collar industry

Appalachian Ohio is a study in contrasts. Worry coexists with a sense hope; the struggle of daily life compliments the continued sense of progress. In a time when the manufacturing base that has long supported this area is largely drying up, many have pointed to information and technology as the solution. However, there will always be a blue-collar segment of the population in this area. For them, a new industry is emerging – or rather an old one has arisen from the ashes and is back again.

The industry? Energy. With the cost of oil and natural gas rising so dramatically over the past few years, there has been a renewed interest in alternative energy sources. One of these alternatives is Ohio coal.

In one of his recent articles on Appalachian Ohio, AP writer James Hannah states, “Coal mining was once king in the state’s Appalachian foothills. But the industry went into a nosedive in the 1980s because of falling foreign demand and increased production of cheaper coal from Western states. Mines closed, and a generation of potential miners left their tiny towns to make their livings elsewhere, dealing a hard blow to a region already lagging behind the state economically.”

In addition to the cheaper coal from out west, the high sulfur content in Ohio coal (often referred to as “dirty coal”) caused many buyers to turn to other alternatives when the EPA began to crack down on the air pollution caused by sulfur dioxide gasses. The process of cleaning the coal was expensive and drove the cost of the commodity up even higher.

But as the cost of oil and natural gas continue to rise, many power companies (now equipped with pollution-controlling scrubbers) are turning back to the yet untapped resources in their own back yard. The new technology required by the government makes it possible for most of these power plants to burn the high-sulfur coal without any noticeable increase in pollutants.

Hannah reports that the “demand for U.S. coal is expected to be a record 1.2 billion tons this year,” and with “about 100 mines and 35 coal companies in Ohio” and the mining workforce at a twenty-year low, companies “are running ads and conducting job fairs, . . . offering pay increases, and improved benefits and bonuses to attract new miners.”

In the midst of a rapidly changing economy, the boom being felt in the mining industry is a boon to the Ohio Valley. It offers the area a chance to ease the transition from blue-collar labor to service and high-tech information jobs. Further, the increased revenue that mining will bring is vitally needed to stimulate the economy and bring the necessary infrastructure into place. The contrast between coal mining and high-tech might seem out of place most places, but in Appalachian Ohio, it is just one more contrast.

For more information, check out the Ohio Coal Association at: http://www.ohiocoal.com/