Appalachian Coal breaks $100/ton

Northern Appalachian coal just hit $110/ton. In 2007, it bottomed out at less than $45/ton, meaning it has nearly tripled in ONE YEAR.

In April 2007 it was $45/ton. As you can see, for the last three years, Central Appalachian coal usually tracks fairly closely to Northern Appalachian coal. If anything, it tends to be slightly more expensive. The price of Appalachian coal has now officially quintupled in less than 8 years.
This is the Northern and Central Appalachian coal basin, where 90%+ of Appalachian coal comes from.

A lot of this coal is mined using aggressive extraction methods like mountaintop removal mining, which has already flattened more than 474 of the worlds oldest mountains.

The writing has been on the market wall now for a long time. The NYT had already reported a similar price trend in Central Appalachian coal and a long term trend of Appalachian coal.

This is a big deal not only for investors who want to see new coal-fired power plants constructed and more mountaintop removal coal mines, but $100/ton coal in Appalachia may signal a death knell for coal-fired electricity in general.

The northern and central Appalachian states (PA, WV, KY) are where the Presidential candidates are right now and we need to hear how they plan to deal with mountaintop removal and coal-fired power plants in the face of skyrocketing coal prices.

About JW Randolph

Raised on the banks of the Tennessee River, JW's work to create progress in his home state and throughout Appalachia has been featured on the Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Kos and Grist. He served first as Appalachian Voices’ Legislative Associate and then Tennessee director until leaving to pursue a career in medicine in 2012.