Download or read book Appalachian Coal Mining and Market Power written by Jonathan Brown and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This case study explores the poor working conditions of early-20th-century coal miners in Appalachia--more specifically in southern West Virginia--and how a substantial imbalance in market power allowed these conditions to develop. Market power, the ability to manipulate the terms of a transaction to extract benefit at the expense of other participating parties, can be concentrated on the side of the buyer or the seller. If it is the seller that has dominant market power, they can drive up the price of the commodity with little fear that the consumer will abandon the transaction in favor of a competitor. If it is the buyer who holds more market power, they can drive down the price knowing that the seller has no alternative sale options. In the case of the early-20th-century U.S. coal industry, owners had unfettered dominance in the sale of coal, but also in the purchasing of labor. This led to lucrative gains for the coal operators, but at the expense of other parties involved, introducing a system that was detrimental to the economy as a whole. In the labor market in particular, the lack of bargaining power for the workers led to horrific conditions in which laborers themselves worked and their families were trapped. The desperation that festered under these conditions was fueled by cruelty ranging from petty wage deductions to cold-blooded murder. Eventually, thousands of miners would take up arms and march on their employers in the largest uprising on U.S. soil outside the Civil War, culminating in a battle known as, despite a law passed by the West Virginia state government in 1931 in an effort that removed it from school history books for decades, the Battle for Blair Mountain. In the following case study, monopoly and monopsony are defined and their basic behavior is described. In some cases, inequitable balance of power can be beneficial to the economy as a whole, or at least largely ignored. However, students will find here one of many examples throughout history that showcases the range of atrocities that might be inflicted when market power is not kept in check. Students will be asked to consider the detrimental aspects of placing profit-seeking above human welfare, to contemplate the definition of a successful company beyond its costs and revenues, and to examine a government's role in fostering markets that benefit both buyers and sellers.
Download or read book Appalachia s Coal Mined Landscapes written by Carl E. Zipper and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-25 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book collects and summarizes current scientific knowledge concerning coal-mined landscapes of the Appalachian region in eastern United States. Containing contributions from authors across disciplines, the book addresses topics relevant to the region’s coal-mining history and its future; its human communities; and the soils, waters, plants, wildlife, and human-use potentials of Appalachia’s coal-mined landscapes. The book provides a comprehensive overview of coal mining’s legacy in Appalachia, USA. It book describes the resources of the Appalachian coalfield, its lands and waters, and its human communities – as they have been left in the aftermath of intensive mining, drawing upon peer-reviewed science and other regional data to provide clear and objective descriptions. By understanding the Appalachian experience, officials and planners in other resource extraction- affected world regions can gain knowledge and perspectives that will aid their own efforts to plan and manage for environmental quality and for human welfare. Appalachia's Coal-Mined Landscapes: Resources and Communities in a New Energy Era will be of use to natural resource managers and scientists within Appalachia and in other world regions experiencing widespread mining, researchers with interest in the region’s disturbance legacy, and economic and community planners concerned with Appalachia’s future.
Download or read book Coal In Appalachia written by Curtis E. Harvey and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-10-21 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coal, the nation's most abundant fossil fuel and the only one that is exported, represents one of our most valuable natural resources. This study undertakes a thorough review of the economics of the Appalachian coal industry. It establishes, first of all, the international framework within which the American and the Appalachian coal industry function. It next examines the underlying principles that govern the production of and the demand for coal. This demand is influenced not only by price but also by world politics, the economic well-being of dozens of countries, government regulation, and the availability of fuel substitutes. Included are a comprehensive treatment of the regulation of the industry, the effects of coal utilization on air quality, land reclamation, safety, transport, and legislation pertaining to port use. In conclusion, Harvey looks at the prospects for Appalachian coal, considering the impact of technologies such as fluidized bed combustion and coal-water slurry and the issue of energy policy and fuel alternatives. The picture that emerges is not unexpected—an industry whose recovery and enduring health depend on resurgence of world and domestic economic activity, social and political stability, and government regulation.
Download or read book Appalachian Coal Mines Railroads written by Thomas Dixon and published by Quarrier Press. This book was released on 2022-11-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book details the cycle of coal transportation, originating at the market and tells how the railroads of the Appalachian region developed and served this important trade. It concentrates on the Norfolk and Western, Virginian, and Chesapeake & Ohio Railways, but also deals with some of the other lines that hauled coal, including the Baltimore & Ohio, and the Louisville & Nashville. Ideal for historians, model railroaders, and those interested in the region and its coal heritage. The Virginian railway was built for one purpose, to transport coal from West Virginia mines to Tidewater coal piers at Norfolk, Virginia. All its other traffic was incidental to this one mission to be a "coal conveyor," and it served well in tis capacity for 50 years. Illustrations, maps, photos, and drawings on every page.
Download or read book Sulfur Emissions Policies Oil Prices and the Appalachian Coal Industry written by Robin Landis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume, originally published in 1984, analyzes the impact of the 1973-74 oil price increases on the Appalachian coal industry in the USA, which would otherwise have suffered large output reductions as a result of sulfur emission restrictions. Although focussed on a particular geographical region and timeframe, this book has enduring relevance as it analyzes and discusses many of the issues which are still facing the ailing coal mining industries both in the USA and globally: the advent of new energy forms, increased competition from cheaper sources, strict pollution legislation and the impact that all of these issues have on productivity and employment.
Download or read book The Economics of Kentucky Coal written by Curtis E. Harvey and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2014-07-15 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The energy problem confronting the United States has focused attention on Kentucky's coal. Mr. Harvey here presents a comprehensive analysis of the coal industry in Kentucky, which consistently produces more than a fifth of the nation's coal. Because the coal industries in eastern and western Kentucky differ in many respects, Mr. Harvey has analyzed them separately. Although faced with competition from the foreign oil market, prospects for eastern Kentucky coal seem favorable because of its high quality and easy access to markets. The future of the coal industry in western Kentucky, Mr. Harvey asserts, depends upon implementation and enforcement of air-pollution standards, pending legislation regulating strip mining, fuel-import prices and policies, foreign currency fluctuations, and other factors. He foresees a moderate growth in the coal industry over the next five to ten years.
Download or read book Environmental Regulation and the Allocation of Coal written by Alan M. Schlottmann and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1977 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Labor Productivity Changes in Appalachian Coal Mining written by and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Coal written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-12-21 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Competitive Position of Coal in the United States written by National Industrial Conference Board and published by New York : [s.n.], 1931 [c1932]. This book was released on 1931 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Appalachian Coal Mines and Railroads in Color written by Stephen M. Timko and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Appalachian Coal Miners Want Decent Working Conditions written by and published by . This book was released on 1975* with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book After Coal written by Tom Hansell and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when fossil fuels run out? How do communities and cultures survive? Central Appalachia and south Wales were built to extract coal, and faced with coal's decline, both regions have experienced economic depression, labor unrest, and out-migration. After Coal focuses on coalfield residents who chose not to leave, but instead remained in their communities and worked to build a diverse and sustainable economy. It tells the story of four decades of exchange between two mining communities on opposite sides of the Atlantic, and profiles individuals and organizations that are undertaking the critical work of regeneration. The stories in this book are told through interviews and photographs collected during the making of After Coal, a documentary film produced by the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University and directed by Tom Hansell. Considering resonances between Appalachia and Wales in the realms of labor, environment, and movements for social justice, the book approaches the transition from coal as an opportunity for marginalized people around the world to work toward safer and more egalitarian futures.
Download or read book Market and Productivity of Appalachian Coal written by and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A History of Appalachian Coal Mines written by Kenneth Lasson and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This portion of the study discusses the social and economic antecedents of today's Appalachian coal industry. The time covered includes from pre-history up to the date of the study (1972).
Download or read book Daughters of the Mountain written by Suzanne E. Tallichet and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much has been written over the years about life in the coal mines of Appalachia. Not surprisingly, attention has focused mainly on the experiences of male miners. In Daughters of the Mountain, Suzanne Tallichet introduces us to a cohort of women miners at a large underground coal mine in southern West Virginia, where women entered the workforce in the late 1970s after mining jobs began opening up for women throughout the Appalachian coalfields. Tallichet's work goes beyond anecdotal evidence to provide complex and penetrating analyses of qualitative data. Based on in-depth interviews with female miners, Tallichet explores several key topics, including social relations among men and women, professional advancement, and union participation. She also explores the ways in which women adapt to mining culture, developing strategies for both resistance and accommodation to an overwhelmingly male-dominated world.
Download or read book Appalachian Fall written by Jeff Young and published by Tiller Press. This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A searing, on-the-ground examination of the coal industry—and the workers left behind—in the midst of an environmental crisis, addiction, and rising white nationalism. The past few years have highlighted the paradox at the heart of coal country. Despite fueling a century of American progress, its people are being left behind, suffering from unemployment, addiction, and environmental crises often at greater rates than anywhere else in the country. But what if Appalachia’s troubles are just a taste of what the future holds for all of us? Appalachian Fall tells the captivating true story of coal communities on the leading edge of change. A group of local reporters known as the Ohio Valley ReSource shares the real-world impact these changes have had on what was once the heart and soul of America. Including stories about the miners striking in Harlan County after their company suddenly went bankrupt, bouncing their paychecks; the farmers tilling former mining ground for new cash crops like hemp and maple syrup; the activists working to fight mountaintop removal and bring clean energy jobs to the region; and the mothers mourning the loss of their children to overdose and despair. In the wake of the controversial bestseller Hillbilly Elegy, Appalachian Fall addresses what our country owes to a region that provided fuel for a century and what it risks if it stands by watching as the region, and its people, collapse.
