Comments about ‘Mining company blames Obama for its 102 Utah lay offs’

And so it begins....the market down 4% (over 400 billion dollars!!) and people being sent packing. Just wait until osamacare hits businesses. More part time employees with less money to spend. Thank you liberals.

The price of natural gas is killing coal. It's simple market dynamics. Why should power plants use coal when natural gas is so much cheaper?

So when a company succeeds its because they did it on their own and no one helped them but when it fails its the governments fault? thanks I think I get it know.

So know its the governments fault that this business has failed to adapt to a changing market? other energy companies have wisely invested the money they have made off of these old and decreasing technologies to adapt to the changing market and the challenges it presents. The companies that are learning to adapt are still posting record profits while those that failed to evolve are disappearing. its just to bad its this companies workers that are made to suffer from the owners lack of foresight.

AH! it is our old friend Mr Murray, the same gentleman who owned the Crandall coal mine. This was the mine where we lost coal miners in a cave in, the same mine that had a lot of saftey violations. Was this press release issued from a jail cell? It should have been.

UTAH Bill, where in the world did you get the idea that natural gas is cheaper than coal? Ask someone at Rocky Mountain Power which fuel is cheaper. Electricity costs 3x as much to produce with natural gas as it does with coal. Natural gas only becomes cheaper than coal when you burden coal with impossible regulations. How's that for a fair tax on the poor?!

Nub, you seriously need to do some real research.

Just Google: cost of electricity vs coal and see what you find.

@goodDr got it right

Fact: Natural Gas is far more expensive than coal. Three times as expensive.
Fact: Even though new coal technologies have been introduced that are far more environmentally friendly than the dinosaurs of the past, the industry has been unfairly demonized so that it's impossible to build new coal power plants. The fear of coal is irrational.
Fact: Coal would be better off without Bob Murray. This was a political statement made at the cost of more than 100 families. Nothing more, nothing less.

Since Murray doesn't believe is following safety regulations and blames mine collapses on non-existent earthquakes, laying these people off might have saved their lives.

We have lots of coal, but unfortunately the companies that own it/mine it are as they have been for generations short sighted. They have never shown great concern for their workers, but when regulations are put in place to require safe working conditions in an already dangerous job the companies scream foul. Use the technology to turn coal into a fuel for transportation and maybe the demand comes back.

The reason given by Murray for laying-off miners is clearly nonsense.
While the future for coal mining under Obama might be glum, the reality today of the economics of coal mining is unchanged from what it was on 5 November.

"Impossible regulations" = the regulations I plan to ignore in order to bump my bottom line a little more. Do they pertain to clean air or safety? It doesn't matter. I'M calling them "impossible" and that's that. Haven't those people seen the TV commercials for "clean coal"?

Shame on you Mr. Murray!! I would venture to say that this is nothing more than a mean-spirited way to make a "statement" by forcing these good people who work hard for you in dangerous conditions to suffer more without jobs at all! Natural gas (which I wouldn't be at all surprised to see that you have invested heavily in...) is what is putting the market squeeze on coal. You are being disingenuous and there are those of us who are on to you. How about giving these people jobs in your natural gas facilities, or talking to your colleagues in that business and helping them find jobs through the network? No, you'd rather watch them suffer, perhaps lose their homes, have difficulty feeding their kids, paying their utility bills while you make your "statement". Shame on you.

Brace yourselves everyone. We're going right back to the Great Recession. Save every penny you have and get out of debt. Obama will never pull us out. More and more companies will be laying off their work force. Thousands of small business will close over health care costs and strong government regulation.

I'm very excited to pay for Obama's friends to get healthcare! I hope he uses some of my money to cover Medicaid for my parents.

coal is the dirty fuel at any cost. it is carbon. when burned mercury is air born and most ends in the oceans. mercury is poison. 70 % of oxygen come from plankten in the oceans. if plankton dies , we all die. if scrubers are not used at coal plants the need to close. the life of a planet is worth more then cheep power.

Sorry, Mr Murray.

Those nasty "safety violations" resulted in how many people dying in your Crandal Canyon mine?
Those nasty "clean air" requirements will save how many Utah residents' lives?

You can cry all you want, Mr Murray. But your mines are the most unsafe, and you are supporting old energy that results in mercury poisoning of our lakes and streams. When we can't eat fish caught in Utah, what does that say about coal for energy?

Natural gas!

@rick122948

"We have lots of coal, but unfortunately the companies that own it/mine it are as they have been for generations short sighted. They have never shown great concern for their workers, but when regulations are put in place to require safe working conditions in an already dangerous job the companies scream foul."

Not every coal company is like that. You should familiarize with Alpha Natural Resources.

I'm sure the Whaling Captains and Candle makers of the late 19th Century blamed Pres. Abraham Lincoln for their economic situation to avoid their crews from mutiny and walking the plank!

Same schtick - different day.

this is a sad tale that is going to be playing out over and over and over all over this country thanks to Obama. I am sad for the good Utah folks who don't deserve this. As for the Ohio and Pennsylvania Obama crowd ... I could care less. Let Obama find em a new government job! Sometimes elections have consequences.