Coal will continue to provide a major portion of energy requirements in the United States for at least the next several decades. It is imperative that accurate information describing the amount, location, and quality of the coal resources and reserves be available to fulfill energy needs. It is also important that the United States extract its coal resources efficiently, safely, and in an environmentally responsible manner. A renewed focus on federal support for coal-related research, coordinated across agencies and with the active participation of the states and industrial sector, is a critical element for each of these requirements. Coal focuses on the research and development needs and priorities in the areas of coal resource and reserve assessments, coal mining and processing, transportation of coal and coal products, and coal utilization.

The flooding and subsequent closure of Scotland's last deep coal mine in 2002 brought a centuries long saga to an end. Villages and towns across the densely populated Central Belt owe their existence to coal mining's expansion during the nineteenth century and its maturation in the twentieth. Colliery closures and job losses were not just experienced in economic terms: they had profound implications for what it meant to be a worker, a Scot and a resident of an industrial settlement. Coal Country presents the first book-length account of deindustrialization in the Scottish coalfields. It draws on archival research using records from UK government, the nationalized coal industry and trade unions, as well as the words and memories of former miners, their wives and children that were collected in an extensive oral history project. Deindustrialization progressed as a slow but powerful march across the second half of the twentieth century. In this book, big changes in cultural identities are explained as the outcome of long-term economic developments. The oral testimonies bring to life transformations in gender relations and distinct generational workplaces experiences. This book argues that major alterations to the politics of class and nationhood have their origins in deindustrialization. The adverse effects of UK government policy, and centralization in the nationalized coal industry, encouraged miners and their trade union to voice their grievances in the language of Scottish national sovereignty. These efforts established a distinctive Scottish national coalfield community and laid the foundations for a devolved Scottish Parliament. Coal Country explains the deep roots of economic changes and their political reverberations, which continue to be felt as we debate another major change in energy sources during the 2020s.

This report presents data on coal consumption, coal distribution, coal stocks, coal prices, coal quality, and emissions for Congress, Federal and State agencies, the coal industry, and the general public. Appendix A contains a compilation of coal statistics for the major coal-producing States. This report does not include coal consumption data for nonutility power producers that are not in the manufacturing, agriculture, mining, construction, or commercial sectors. Consumption for nonutility power producers not included in this report is estimated to be 21 million short tons for 1995.

This report presents data on coal consumption, coal distribution, coal stocks, coal prices, and coal quality, and emissions for Congress, Federal and State agencies, the coal industry, and the general public. Appendix A contains a compilation of coal statistics for the major coal-producing States. This report does not include coal consumption data for nonutility power producers that are not in the manufacturing, agriculture, mining, construction, or commercial sectors. Consumption for nonutility power producers not included in this report is estimated to be 24 million short tons for 1996. 14 figs., 145 tabs.