The Comeback King

King Coal, once written off as an early victim of the nuclear age, has instead become its first comeback kid. U.S. coal production, which dropped by more than a third midway through the '50s, this year is on the way to setting a new record somewhat above the previous high of 630 million tons in 1947. Largely as a result of the deepening national energy crisis, President Nixon recently asked Congress to double funding of research into new and cleaner ways of using the fuel that ran steamboats and locomotives. Before the industry can fully savor its new-found potential, however, it must overcome what John Corcoran, president of Consolidation Coal Co., calls a set of "horrendous short-range problems."

Tangled Feud. As if to underscore the most pressing of them, half of the nation's 95,000 union miners stomped off their grimy jobs for several days last week in wildcat strikes. They were protesting the court-ordered removal of United Mine Workers President W.A. ("Tony") Boyle from the board of the union's mismanaged pension fund. The union boss's forced withdrawal from pension affairs was the latest development in a tangled feud between union factions that has led to many lawsuits. Although the miners' grievance was with the courts, they followed the all-too-familiar course of taking it out on their employers and the public.

Unfortunately, their action may be the dress rehearsal for a much more serious strike this fall. The union's contract expires Sept. 30; both its own internal problems and the industry's new strength will be issues in the negotiations for a new one. For the moment, Boyle is concentrating hard on the economic front. He recently declared that the industry's healthy net profits, which last year rose 102% to an estimated $46.8 million, entitled his members to a rich raise. "We are going to get more because the coal industry can afford more," said Boyle. Among his early demands are a 35% hike in wages, to $50 a day, paid sick leave and doubling the 400 "royalty" on each ton of coal that mining companies must pay to the union pension fund. But few industry leaders expect that the miners will settle for even that package. If only to unite the membership, they fear, pro-Boyle forces in the union will force at least a short strike.

No Stripping Allowed. The industry's second set of difficulties involves the increasingly tough demands of ecologists, who object to the effect of coal mining on both the air and the land. Leading coal producers are working hard in both areas. Scientists have already developed precipitators that can collect most fly ash inside furnace stacks, and they believe that a solution is in sight for the more serious problem of sulfur-oxide emissions. Another controversy is over strip mining, which accounts for a third of all U.S.-produced coal. In response to criticism of the desolate condition in which stripped areas are usually left, some large companies have begun to replace soil and vegetation after scooping up deposits just beneath the surface. Two Kentucky counties have already banned strip mining, and government leaders in other areas are re-examining their policies.

The demand for coal is likely to continue increasing at its present annual rate of 4.5% for many years to come. Reason: for much of the nation, it is still the fuel that produces electricity. Contrary to their predictions a decade ago, electricity producers have not converted widely to nuclear power plants, which take up to seven years to build and usually create thermal pollution. Yet their customers have placed ever increasing demands on the power load. Says Consolidation Coal's Corcoran: "The modern home with appliances uses eight to ten tons of coal a year, which is a lot more than I used to shovel into my family's furnace as a kid."

Limited Spectrum. As a result, power producers have gradually made up for the industry's loss of such other customers as railroads and shipping lines. Another large chunk of the fuel goes abroad, especially to the booming Japanese steelmakers. Within the next few years, coal producers expect to line up still another huge group of buyers: users of U.S. natural gas, which is rapidly being depleted and going up in price. As the price of gas (now 29-c- per 1,000 cu. ft.) increases, it will become more economical to convert coal to methane gas and transport it through pipelines. Consolidation is building a demonstration plant in Rapid City, S. Dak., that will use the "gasification" process, which now costs 65-c- per 1,000 cu. ft.

Last week Interior Secretary Rogers Morton declared that gasification "is one of the most promising areas we are exploring in the energy spectrum." That spectrum at present is more limited than it should be, in part because U.S. planners prematurely assumed a coal phaseout. Their miscalculation should be gratifying news not only for coal men but also for other industries widely "doomed" by the technology of the future. As coal's case showed, that technology does not always arrive on schedule.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.