[Hoot Gibson]

I didn't come up with the 7 billion figure, somebody else did. I don't know where it came from.

Understood. The deal is great news for eastern Kentucky. India needs lots of new generating capacity. Power outages are common in the summer, even if India's prosperous states. My Indian carpool partner says that it is partly because of the country's reliance on hydroelectric power plants. Demand for electricity goes up during the hot, dry season and the water levels drop. The country does not have enough thermal power plants to make up the difference, so it resorts to rolling blackouts.

If I had money to invest, coal would be among the last places that I would invest it in the current political climate. I hope that Jim Booth and his employees profit from this contract for many years but it seems like a roll of the dice to me. Obama's efforts to destroy the domestic market for coal will also increase costs for companies that export coal.