Government regulation has certainly hurt the coal industry, but regulation is not the only thing that damages an industry. But since 2011 coal employment has declined nationwide and in the three states with the most coal employees—West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. In 2015 these three states accounted for 47% of total private employment in the coal industry. Additionally, this relative price decline is largely due to the price of natural gas falling, not the price of coal rising. This price decline also matches up with the decline in coal mining employment shown earlier—evidence that competition from natural gas is at least partly responsible.

Source: Forbes March 01, 2017 22:27 UTC