Scott Wartman

swartman@nky.com

Any candidate running for statewide office in Kentucky will have to take sides on the 'war on coal.' And if they want to win, they usually have to take the side of coal.

Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes have done their best to paint themselves as friends of coal.

But an Enquirer fact check finds that that coal commands much of the attention in Kentucky politics - but very few of the jobs.

Here are some myths and facts regarding the "war on coal"

President Barack Obama's regulations have caused the loss of coal jobs—Sort of

Government regulation is one of many factors that could explain the loss of coal. The decline in production and employment at Kentucky coal mines goes back to before Obama was even born.

Jobs in Kentucky coal mines have steadily declined for 60 years. Kentucky coal mine employment peaked at 75,000 in 1949, according to the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet.

Competition with cheap natural gas and other forms of energy also play a role as does the rising cost of extraction as coal mines get depleted, said Jason Bailey, director of the nonpartisan Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

"When people talk about the environmental regulations, they've been phased in over a period of decades," Bailey said. "It didn't just come into effect under the current president. It's not a new thing."

The coal industry, however, points to the dramatic decline in the past two years, when coal mine jobs dropped 25 percent.

Among the crippling regulations: requiring "scrubbers" on coal-fired power plants, said Mike Duncan, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. That reduced the demand for cleaner burning Eastern Kentucky coal. Permits to mine coal also became more expensive, said Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association.

"The biggest man made-factor is this president and the regulations that affected only Appalachian coal," Bissett said.

There's enough coal left in Kentucky and the United States to last 250 years-Myth

While it's true that a majority of Kentucky's coal reserves remains underground, a portion of it is so deep underground that current technology can't reach it.

Coal companies across the country, including Kentucky, have claimed there's 250 to 300 years worth of coal left.

A 2007 National Academies of Science report stated there's no way to confirm claims about 250 years worth of coal being left in the United States.

"It is clear that there is enough coal at current rates of production to meet anticipated needs through 2030, and probably enough for 100 years," a release on the report stated. "However, it is not possible to confirm the often-quoted assertion that there is a sufficient supply for the next 250 years."

No other countries are joining the United States in reducing carbon emissions-Myth

McConnell has argued that to put EPA restrictions on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants would be pointless because it won't affect the global output.

He likened EPA regulations as "dropping a pebble in the ocean."

"If you felt that was a big problem, you would think everybody in the world would be interested in going down this path, but I don't see any evidence of it so far," McConnell told the Enquirer earlier this month.

As Courier-Journal environmental reporter James Bruggers pointed out, it's not accurate to portray the United States as alone in fighting climate change. The United Nations has 196 nations as part of its Framework Convention on Climate Change.