Coal mining

For the first time ever, federal regulators are asking a judge for an injunction ordering a U.S. mine to close until safety hazards are fixed. That mine is Massey Energy's Freedom Energy No. 1 in Kentucky. Among the provisions the Labor Department injunction asks for is continued pay for the idled miners.

Shares in Massey Energy were climbing today on reports that the coal mining company was "exploring strategic alternatives" -- in other words, a possible sale.

The disaster in West Virginia serves as a reminder that America's dependence on coal for energy isn't going away. While U.S. mining injuries and fatalities have dropped since 2001, safety lapses in the industry mean it remains very dangerous.

Officials don't yet know what led to an massive methane gas explosion at a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia that has killed 25 miners and left four others missing. It is the worst mining disaster in the U.S. in more than two decades.

Big coal's last best hope, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), which is the missing puzzle piece required to create a truly 'clean coal' energy plant, is dead. The death of CCS, which has not been greatly exaggerated (see here, and here), hasn't prevented the Obama Administration from...