By Taylor Kuykendall

Though the coal industry is under fire from the power plant to the mine and fighting everywhere from the courtroom to the floor of the U.S. Congress, Murray Energy Corp. CEO and founder Robert Murray says the single greatest threat to the industry is a revised Stream Protection Rule.

The U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement is currently conducting a series of listening sessions on the newly proposed rule, a revision of an earlier provision known as the Stream Buffer Zone rule. The rule adds several new environmental requirements to coal operators and is expected to be finalized by next year.

"The Obama administration's so-called Stream Protection Rule, they call it, is the single greatest threat to the jobs and the family livelihoods of our employees that I've seen in the 58 years in the coal industry," Murray said on a call with reporters Sept. 10. "The rule bans all underground mining by the longwall and other methods beneath dry ditches on the surface. In doing so, the Obama administration — it's radical bureaucrats and Democrat supporters — have with this rule, yet again, acted illegally."

OSMRE's own projections are more muted. Under the agency's preferred alternative study, 260 jobs in the coal industry are expected to be lost annually over 21 years, primarily in Appalachia. OSMRE officials have said the rule gives the mining industry what it has been asking for in the form of regulatory certainty.

Murray's call took place ahead of a Pittsburgh-based listening session hosted by OSMRE. Murray said that standing with him was over 100 employees in opposition to the rule holding signs with phrases such as "Stop the War on Coal," "Obama = jobs killer," and "Give 'em Hell Bob."

Murray has largely led the charge against the new rule, publicly speaking out on the rule as well as filing court action in addition to his legal efforts against the Clean Power Plan, a rule expected to erode coal demand by limiting carbon dioxide emissions. Murray claims the new Stream Protection Rule will effectively end the practice of underground longwall coal mining, one of the more efficient, profitable and productive forms of underground mining.

Murray, the largest underground coal miner in America, operates 17 longwall mines across five states and employs 7,000 people. He says the rule precludes mining anywhere under an area with a "dry ditch."

"Longwall mining is eliminated because there's nowhere there's not a dry ditch on the surface," Murray said. "It has nothing to do with money."

Murray said the rule was originally about limiting the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining, something he said is, environmentally, "probably not a good way to mine coal." Murray said that underground coal mining, particularly longwall mining, is the most environmentally acceptable way to dig coal and the new OSMRE rule "destroys it." The result, Murray said is the "lights will go out in this country and people will freeze in the dark."

Murray said he is not giving up hope for the industry. The key to success, he said, will be not only fighting the Obama administration as he rounds out his presidency, but to also elect new leaders sympathetic to the arguments of the coal industry.

"All we can do is hope and pray that we get leadership in this country and the House and Senate that will overturn some of this," Murray said. "A lot of it can't be overturned. A lot of the damage done to coal — most all of it — is permanent because those plants that he closed, those 411 units, can't be brought back."

The enemies of coal, Murray said, are motivated and serious. If they are able to push through the Stream Protection Rule, he added, it will be the "coup de grace that ends it all." Despite such a dour outlook from the industry, many environmental groups have actually criticized the rule as not going far enough to protect streams and have suggested in their comments that restrictions and relief available under the rule should be bolstered further.

The coal industry is hurting so much now, Murray said, many of his peers, particularly the large, publicly traded companies, are unable to put up the same level of resistance to the administration and environmentalists because they are already bogged down in the malaise that has stricken the sector.

"I believe that every company will eventually financially fail," Murray said. "They'll either have to restructure, they'll have to sell assets or they'll be bankrupt except for two. They're distracted with just staying alive and keeping the business together another day as they play through their bankruptcies."

The rule also drew the attention of the Pennsylvania Coal Association, who issued a press release alongside its own comments at the event. PCA joins numerous organizations that have pleaded with OSMRE to offer more time to comment on the rule due to its "enormity" and "many implications."

"Through these blanket, national regulations, it has been made clear OSMRE doesn't consider, or plan to consider the exacerbated costs associated with the immense number of overreaching compliance requirements," said PCA CEO John Pippy. "This will force coal to become unprofitable and impossible to extract, ultimately stranding 200 years' worth of this domestic energy resource, billions for the state economy and thousands of Pennsylvania jobs."

Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association, said in a recent press conference that the rule was a "massive overhaul" of mining regulations. He said that the rule was unneeded and illegal due to a failure to consult adequately with state regulators.

"We believe that it is a rule looking for a problem," Gonet said.

Steve Carter, president of Knight Hawk Coal LLC, said at the Illinois Coal Association press conference that coal employment is more than about jobs — it's a "sense of purpose."

"Our men love the coal industry," he said. "They depend on it. There is no other industry in that area."