[outdoorsman43]

It started before Obama, so we can't lay it on him.

To answer the OP. Obama isn't going to hurt the coal business, because he can't. He needs us.

Well, do you have an explanation to why he is putting a hold to all Mountain-Top Mining permits? I'm betting no. If you do, then it won't be convincing. Why not you might ask? Because, there is no reason for it. As I have said time and time again, most mining companies do everything they can to minimize pollution as much as possible. I will tell you right now, I'm all for minimizing pollution and I'm for all the guidelines, rules, and regulations that go with the D.E.P.

Absolute clean coal practices will never exist, so what good does it to stop all mountain-top mining? What people also forget is that this stops a lot of deep mining too. Deep mines dump their slurry (coal waste products) into the same slurry pond that Mountain-top mines do. An EPA permit is required to dump the slurry into slurry ponds. Since all EPA permits have been held up, then a good deal of deep-mining has been stopped as well.

I wish people would quit beating around the bush and understand that there is absolutely no good ever going to come out of this permit hold. It is only making things worse. The act is not penalizing mining companies for not following the guidelines, it's just ignorance.