ACC members are welcome to access the latest edition of Robert Wilson’s “The Un-Comfort Zone” in the member’s section of the ACC website. Robert Wilson’s Un-Comfort Zone is offered as special content for ACC members only.

THE UN-COMFORT ZONE by Robert Wilson

On my Honor

With the morning mist still on the Hudson River, and the sun just kissing the cliff tops of the New Jersey Palisade, Aaron Burr, Vice President of the United States shot and killed former Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Political opponents for years, the duelists faced each other after Burr sent these words to Hamilton: “Political opposition can never absolve gentlemen from the necessity of a rigid adherence to the laws of honor.”

National Mining Assoc. launches “Hands-on for Safety” initiative – aimed at reducing accidents and injuries to hands.

Learn more about this important program at nma.org/hand_safe.asp. You can download the “Hands-On for Safety” poster (in pdf format) here. You can also request copies of program materials on this page so that they can be integrated into your company’s safety program.

PLEASE!! Help the mining industry do all it can to make sure every miner comes home safely at the end of the work day.

The Cape Wind project, an offshore wind generation project proposed to be built off the coast of Nantucket Sound, has finally received federal approval to move forward after a bitter and divisive, decade-long battle. This development would be the first major offshore wind project to be constructed in the U.S. and is planned to produce energy from 130, ~400 foot tall turbines.

Washington, DC, January 25, 2010 — Keynote speaker and panels for the 2010 Spring Coal Forum, March 2-4, Clearwater Beach (Tampa), FL are confirmed! Keynote speakers include:

• Matthew K. Rose, Chairman, President, & CEO of BNSF Railway will discuss the issues facing our nation’s railroads.
• Dr. John Doggett, Senior Lecturer in International Entrepreneurship & Management at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin will discuss the “New Global World Order.”
• Nick Akins, Executive Vice President of American Electric Power, will discuss the issues facing our nation’s coal-fueled utilities.

Read the rest of this news release on the ACC website.

Many people believe that the coal industry is necessarily opposed to the development of wind-based energy. But nothing could be farther from the truth.

I was reminded of this issue while attending the Western Business Roundtable’s 2010 Summit of the West in Phoenix this week. One of the speakers alluded to the idea that coal and renewables might be at odds with each other. A little later in the day, Laura Skaer, Executive Director of the Northwest Mining Association discussed how green energy and renewables would not be possible if it were not for the minerals that were produced by our mining industry.

The American Coal Council (ACC) is proudly celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year!

The ACC’s predecessor organization, the Western Coal Council (WCC), was founded in 1982 as the Western Coal Export Council (WCEC), a
private industry trade group formed to promote exports of western U.S.
coal to the Pacific Rim.  The WCEC grew out of the efforts of
a multi-national Task Force formed under the auspices of the Western
Governors’ Association (WGA).  In 1981, that Task
Force published a study on “Western U.S. Steam Coal Exports to the
Pacific Basin.”  Three nations – Japan, Taiwan and South Korea
- along with more than 40 U.S. companies participated in the study
group.