The fact that the sixth-largest coal company in the United States is in bankruptcy demonstrates that King Coal has been de-throned not because of environmental regulations, but because it is simply less efficient. This is a case of the market rendering its judgment, not the regulator.
Westmoreland Coal, which owns 19 mines in six states and Canada, has found it necessary to seek to cut retiree health insurance and pensions in the face of a $1.4 billion debt. The collapse of the faltering company, which employs 3,000 people, would further the steady decades-long decline of the coal industry and its workforce. Westmoreland is among several coal companies that have in the past two years filed for bankruptcy protection, or continue to struggle as natural gas and renewable energy sources have increasingly become more economical.
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