Friends of Coal - Kentucky

06/05/2026

For generations, the coal under these mountains has kept America's lights on. But coal is more than fuel. The same seams hold rare earth elements — the minerals inside our phones, electric motors, and defense systems — and University of Kentucky researchers have pulled them from coal itself. The Appalachian Basin may hold millions of tons, right in the ground we already mine. Coal country powered America once; it can help power what comes next.

06/04/2026

There's good news out of Washington today for coal country. The federal government has committed nearly $700 million to American coal — including upgrades to keep 13 plants running across ten states, with Kentucky right in the mix. It's backing for the men and women who keep our lights on, and a reminder that the country still counts on what they do. 🇺🇸

06/03/2026

Volunteer mine rescue teams from across Kentucky are at Central Bank Center in Lexington through June 5 for the State Mine Rescue Competition — six days of timed drills, first-aid events, and underground rescue scenarios. These are the men and women called to an emergency before the rest of us even know one has happened. Cheer your local team this June 5.

06/02/2026

🚂 Eastern Kentucky coal moves on rails — the L&N, the C&O, the Sandy Valley & Elkhorn that reached Jenkins in 1912. The 1911 depot still stands as a museum. It's worth the drive.

06/02/2026

U.S. coal exports are projected to rise about 5% in 2026, an increase of roughly 4 million short tons, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's May Short-Term Energy Outlook. Those exports include both the metallurgical coal that makes steel and the thermal coal that powers plants overseas.

06/01/2026

Coal ash is a building material. The fly ash and gypsum from coal plants go into the concrete in our bridges, the wallboard in our homes, and the soil on our farms. The EPA has proposed easing its coal ash rules so more of it gets put to work — more ash in cement, more gypsum in wallboard and farm soil. Public comments are open through June 12. Coal keeps working long after it leaves the mine.

05/30/2026

Hit the Kentucky Coal Heritage Trail this summer!

Hyden was laid out in 1878 at the mouth of Rockhouse Creek, where the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River bends through Leslie County, and named for state Senator John Hyden. For decades it stayed so isolated that supplies came upriver by canoe. In 1925 Mary Breckinridge based the Frontier Nursing Service here, its nurses riding out on horseback to the coal camps and hollers. Her log headquarters at Wendover still stands above the river.

05/29/2026

Last week, Friends of Coal sponsored a field trip for the Belfry Middle School STEM program — fifth through eighth graders — to Portal 31, the exhibition coal mine in Lynch. Students walked the same ground where Lynch miners once worked and learned how the coal beneath their feet helped power a nation. Thank you to the teachers who made it happen.

05/28/2026

In 1911, the Consolidation Coal Company bought over 100,000 acres along the Little Elkhorn and built a town from the ground up — sawmills, brickyards, a hospital, schools, houses by the hundred — named for George C. Jenkins, a Baltimore banker on its board. The rails reached town in 1912, and by 1916 Letcher County was Kentucky's largest coal producer. The 1911 depot still stands on Main Street as the David A. Zegeer Coal-Railroad Museum.

05/27/2026

This Sunday, volunteer mine rescue teams from across Kentucky gather at Central Bank Center in Lexington for the State Mine Rescue Competition — six days of timed drills, first-aid events, and underground scenarios, May 31 through June 5. These are the highly trained men and women who stand ready to help their fellow miners and keep our communities safe. If you're near Lexington, stop in and cheer your county's team.