“We’re under siege,” Mingo County coal executive James “Buck” Harless of International Industries recently said regarding the actions of the Obama administration. “There’s a mass movement against coal.”

Today’s confrontations, however, are on the legal and legislative front. It’s a sharp contrast to the employee vs. employer conflicts of the early 20th century, including the violent Paint Creek Strike of 1912 in Kanawha County, the deadly 1920 Matewan Massacre in Mingo County and the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain in Logan County. Rather, coal supporters contend the industry is under administrative attack on two fronts from Washington.

Those opposing the American Energy and Reinvestment Act of 2009 say passage of the “cap-and-trade” bill essentially would chase mining operations from the Mountain State. Others claim the Environmental Protection Agency is not being objective when it comes to approving permits for mountaintop removal mining projects.

Promoting an anti-cap-and-trade rally in Charleston, Mike Stuart of the West Virginia Conservative Foundation, said the federal legislation could have significant negative impact on the state and the region. The concept is to impose a price on carbon dioxide emissions to force a reduction in the release of greenhouse gases.

“We want clean air, too, but we’re going to fight for our jobs,” Stuart said. “The job losses to West Virginia and the country would be substantial if this bill passes. Companies are going to pack up and move to China and other countries, where they do not have these regulations.”

The bill passed by a narrow 219-212 margin in the House of Representatives despite the objections of West Virginia’s delegation of Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va..

“Coal does much more than keep the lights on in big cities across America,” Rahall was quoted in a news release. “In southern West Virginia, it covers the mortgage, puts food on the family dinner table and keeps open the doors of small businesses.”

The emissions target during the early years of the program was lowered from 20 percent to 17 percent by 2020, but Rahall said it is still too high and too soon to cultivate rapid development and deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technologies.

“We must allow time for expensive clean-coal technologies to come on line.”

The cap-and-trade debate now moves on to the Senate.

Meanwhile, surface mine operators are dealing with EPA officials on the controversial topic of valley fills. Opponents to mining via mountaintop removal claim the new era surface-mining practice leads to flooding and permanent damage to the ecosystem.

“We are in a war,” O. Eugene Kitts, a senior vice president with the International Coal Group, commented during a recent appearance on “Decision Makers,” a statewide public affairs television program.

“I believe that mining is going to survive this attack,” he continued. “I think when the public is informed and their political representatives are informed that this assault on surface mining is based on such a strenuous type of basis, that we will prevail in this battle. We are in a war, and that war will continue....”

Kitts noted that the EPA’s permit review process now takes two years or longer to complete and has little consideration for the economy.

“The EPA has stepped in and objected to a number of pending field permits for surface mining, and the basis for their objections actually applies to all types of mining — or you could extend it to all types of land-disturbing activity that changes the water quality,” he said.

“In this case, the EPA cited the absence of a couple of species of mayflies in the streams below these mining sites.” Kitts noted that coal-generated electricity cannot be replaced overnight.

The West Virginia Coal Association promotes the slogan that “Coal is West Virginia.” That phrase is even more of a mindset in the vast coalfields of southern West Virginia.

Appearing on the same program as Kitts, Logan County Commission President Art Kirkendoll noted that “coal is everything to us.”

“It’s a way that we formulate other business opportunities for people,” he said.

“We’re trying to show our leadership in Washington that everybody in southern West Virginia has a connection to the coal industry — good, bad or indifferent — it’s there. We want to prove that we have quality people and quality performance in creating energy for the world. We have the most affordable source. We can get our country and our state where we are not dependent on other sources.”

As the source of more than 50 percent of America’s electrical supply, coal will continue to play an important role in the country’s energy needs, according to West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Kelly Goes. She added, however, that diversity and flexibility are essential to the state’s future.

“It remains a valuable resource, and coal will still be burning for quite some time,” she commented. “We need to look at making our resources more valuable and value-added by working with emerging fields and alternative technology.”

Goes said the region has a great work force for the existing industries, but it faces the challenge of adjusting to new technologies of the future.

Tourism, she noted, provides the region with the opportunity to showcase its quality of life and provide new business opportunities.

“Ultimately, we want them to visit and then bring to this state whatever it is that they do,” Goes stated. “We are very hopeful for southern West Virginia in this new economy. We need to be positioned to start taking advantage of those opportunities.”