'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Bobby Brock, who lives in Beckley, W.Va., in the heart of the state's southern coalfields, is like many others here — angry at what he sees as a government in Washington determined to take away not only his livelihood but erode, with regulations and greed, a hardscrabble culture that has held families and mountain communities together for decades.
"With fundamental changes taking place in our business, we're taking decisive actions that set the table for Alpha to compete successfully as a leader in the global coal markets for years to come," Alpha chief executive Kevin Crutchfield said in announcing the changes. "We have a big opportunity to advance Alpha's position as a premier supplier of metallurgical coal. Forecasts point to more than 100 million tons of increased sea-borne metallurgical coal demand by the end of this decade."
As U.S. scales back, 'King Coal' reigns as global powerhouse →
Saying the moves reflect in part the difficult economy and in part a shift by customers to cheaper natural gas, Alpha CEO Kevin Crutchfield said in a statement, "The elimination of jobs on this scale is something I take very seriously.
