Coal's forecast cold in E. Ky.

An editorial in today's Herald-Leader:

Sen. Mitch McConnell and other Republicans gave the old "war on coal" canard a workout last week as Gina McCarthy, President Barack Obama's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, came up for a confirmation hearing.

In a statement, McConnell warned that McCarthy "would continue to foster this administration's radical environmental and anti-coal jobs agenda."

The environmental non-profit Appalachian Voices anticipated this line of attack and analyzed data from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, and, lo and behold, more people on average have been employed mining and processing coal during Obama's presidency than during that of his coal-friendly, regulation-averse predecessor, George W. Bush.