On April 23, Patriot Coal announced that it may have to lay off approximately 100 workers at 2 West Virginia mines, due to the fact that the mines are "simply operating at cost levels that exceed the prices that we can get at the marketplace," according to Patriot CEO Ben Hatfield.
Layoffs are awful and I don't want to belittle them, but, with or without new EPA regulations, does that analysis sound like the work of Adam Smith's "invisible hand" of the free market?
Not if you write for right-wing FreedomWorks.
"I don't have an issue with low-cost natural gas taking market from coal, quite honestly that's good for America. Low cost energy drives the standard of living for middle America in a good way." - Ben Hatfield, Patriot Coal CEO
EPA regulations are not the core of the problem, it's the fact that thermal coal is dirtier and more expensive than natural gas. Even the CEO acknowledges this. I encourage you to read the two articles below just to see the dichotomy between them, and how FreedomWorks spun their version. If Democrats were half as good at fearmongering we'd have supermajorities for years to come.
WV MetroNews article: Patriot Coal to lay off at least 100 Boone miners.
Freedomworks article citing the above and naming it Obama War on Coal Kills 100 Mining Jobs in WVA
P.S. The Supreme Court today upheld the coal regulations. Because Obama hates America...tyranny...or...something.